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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






AMERICAN GIRLS’ SERIES 

Standard Copyright Books for Girls by American Authors 

Thirty-five titles Each complete in itself. Uni- 
form cloth binding Kew cover design 1‘rice per 
volume $1.00 

1. Battles at Home By Mary G. Darling 

2. Captain Molly By Mary A. Denison 

3. Daisy Travers By Adelaide F. Samuels 

4. Deerings of fledbury, The By Vir- 

ginia F, Townsend 

5. Her Friend’s Lover By Sophie May 

6. Hollands, The By Virginia F. Tow 

send 

7. In Trust By Amanda M. Douglas 

8. In the World By Mary G. Darling 

9. Into the Light By C. G. O. 

10. It Came to Pass By Mary Farley Sanborn 

11. Lottie Fames By Adelaide F. Samuels 

12. May Martin and Other Tales of the Green Mountains By 

Judge D. P. Thompson 

13. Mills of Tuxbury By Virginia F. Townsend 

14. Nellie Kinnard’s Kingdom By Amanda M. Douglas 

15. Pretty Lucy Merwyn By Mary Lakeman 

16. Rhoda Thornton’s Girlhood By Mary E. Pratt 

17. Room for One More By Mrs. T. W. I-Iigginson 

18. Ruby Duke, A Story of Boarding School Life By Mrs. H. K. 

Pot win 

19. Ruth Eliot’s Dream By Mary Lakeman 

20. Seven Daughters By Amanda M. Douglas 

21. Six in All By Virginia F. Townsend 

22. Sweet and Twenty By Mary h'arley Sanborn 

23. Tatters By Beulah 

24. Which, Right or Wrong? By Mary L. Moreland 

25. Whom Kathie Married By Amanda M. Douglas 

26. An American Girl Abroad By Adeline Trafton 

27. Dorothy’s Experience By Adeline I 'raflon 

28. Hester Strong’s Lift Work By Mrs. S. A. Southworth 

29. Hillsboro’ Farms, A Story for Girls By Sophia Dickinson Cobb 

30. Sally Williams the Mountain Girl Bv Mrs. E. D. Cheney 

31. ’Lisbeth Wilson: A Daughter of Ncm' Hampshire Hills 

By Eliza Nelson Blair 

32. Running to Waste By George M. Baker 

33. Barbara Thayer : Her Glorious Career By Annie Jenness Millei 

34. Katherine Earle By Adeline Trafton 

35. In the King’s Country By A tnanda M. Douglas 

LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers BOSTON 




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KATHERINE EARLE 


BY 




ADELINE TRAFTON 

AUTHOR OF “AN AMERICAN GIRL ABROAD,” ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 





BOSTON 

LEE AND SHEPARD 

1902 


THE LIBRARY OF 
COHGRESS, 
Tvi«3 Cowes Reosived 

SEP. <6 1902 

COPVRIOHT ENTRY 

CLASS ^ XXo Ho. 
CO»^ 3i 



Entered, according- to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 
ADELINE TEAFTON, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
Copyright, 190‘2, by Adeline Trafton Knox, 
Katherine Earle. 


te 0 e 




• • « 

Of 

• « 


« « 

« 

* • • 


• • ^ ^ 

4 « « • * 


TO 

THE GENTLEST CRITIC IN THE WORLD, 

Pg Pother, 


I DEDICATE THIS BOOK. 











CONTENTS 


PAGE 

CHAPTER I. 

The Heroine makes a 7er.» awkware little Bow 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Katey finds a Friend 21 

CHAPTER HI. 

Happy Days 33 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Beginning of the End 45 

CHAPTER V. 

Katey acts the Part of a Deliverer 56 

CHAPTER VL 

Almost a Martyr 65 

CHAPTER VIE 

Where is Ben? 75 

i 

CHAPTER VIIL 

In which the Old Young Man appears 84 

5 


6 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER IX. 

Dacre Home 

CHAPTER X. 

Where more is meant than meets the Ear Ill 

CHAPTER XI. 

Pity’s akin to Love ]^24 

CHAPTER XII. 

New Acquaintances 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Cap and Bells 

CHAFFER XIV. 

“ How LIKE YOU THIS PlAY? ” 

CHAPTER XV. 

A New Life. . . ; 

CHAPTER XVI. 

“ And one was Water, and one Star was Fire.” I79 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Ked Rose cries, “She is near, she is near.” And 
THE White Rose weeps, “ She is late.” I93 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

A Chain to wear 2Q2 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Far from the Eyes, far from the Heart ! ooq 


CONTENTS. 


7 


CHAPTER XX. 

“And one was far apart, and one was near.” 218 

CHAPTER XXI. 

“I AM NOT WELL IN HeALTII, AND THAT IS ALL.” 229 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Picnic 242 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Katey’s Confession 252 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Do WE KEEP OUR LoVE TO PAY OUR DeBTS WITH? 264 

CHAPTER XXV. 

A Beggar-maid ‘ 277 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

There’s Rosemary ; that’s for remembrance 287 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Untangling the Skein 297 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

North and South 306 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Marriage Bells. 322 





KATHERim EARLE. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE HEROINE MAKES A VERY AWKWARD LITTLE BOW. 

ri^HERE stood upon Poplar Street in Boston, twentj 
J- years or more ago, one of those great wooden 
mansions in which our forefathers of pre-revolu- 
tionary times delighted — the embodied conception, 
to their minds, of elegant homes. Progress and so- 
called necessity, and, above all, the restless spirit of 
Young America, are now fast sweeping them from 
sight. This has been gone for years, and a brick 
school-house reared in its place, where, most appro- 
priately, ideas of progress, utility, and irreverence 
for the old and useless are implanted in the minds 
of the rising generation. 

The street is still narrow, the expansion of mind 
which has gradually enlarged the borders, the phari- 
saical spirit of greed and gain which has made wide 
the phylacteries in other parts of the city, having 
done little -or nothing here. It was at that time, and 
is now, a line between affluence upon one hand and 

9 


10 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


respectable j)overty, looking towards squalor, upon 
the other. Block after block — with this one excep- 
tion — of brick or stone houses filled the street ; 
chrysalides, from which the old inhabitants have long 
since winged their way to airier and more elegant 
quarters. 

The Earle house, of which we speak, stood upon 
the right hand, where the street bends to fall towards 
the glimmer of water lined off with masts, faintly 
perceptible between the dull rows of ugly houses, at 
their termination. Its face was turned away from the 
street, and its old eyes stared across the narrow strip 
of yard upon a blank brick wall. There had been 
gardens about it once, in the far-off time when the 
family was rich and held its own ; then, too, green 
meadows stretched away from the garden wall down 
to the water’s edge. In those days, when his majes- 
ty’s troops were quartered in the town, General Gage 
had more than once honored the house with his pres- 
ence. The wine-glass could still be shown which he 
had drained, and, smiling down now from among the 
portraits upon the walls was a fair Delphine Earle, 
with powdered hair and in shining brocade, into whose 
ears he had whispered stately compliments. Ah, how 
the beautiful garden blossomed with gold lace and 
scarlet uniforms — a gorgeous century plant, nipped 
later by New England frosts ! But times changed ; 
wealth and power slipped away from the family. The 
town grew into a city ; meadows and gardens disap- 
peared ; only the old house, dingy, forlorn, — a wreck 
of its former self, ■ — remained. 

It was a cosy, old-fashioned room, whe^^e the Earle 
family were assembled one winter evening, twenty- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


11 


five years ago. The faded, heavy hangings over the 
windows, the carved straight-backed chairs, the mas- 
sive round centre-table, with lion’s claws for its sup- 
port, the wide, tarnished frames upon the walls, 
enclosing dim old portraits, even the soft confusion 
of warm, worn colors under one’s feet, told of sub- 
stantial wealth and comfort — but, alas ! of the wealth 
and comfort of a former generation. 

A low fire snapped and fiamed upon the hearth. 
Before it, in one of the high-backed chairs, sat the 
mother of the family. The face, although laded, was 
still beautiful in its outline. The hair, brown and 
smooth, was put away under a head-dress in the form 
of a turban of lace, which yet suggested a widow’s 
cap. Her eyes rested thoughtfully upon the fire ; her 
thin, shapely hands held a little note as they lay 
crossed in her lap. Curled into a graceful heap upon 
the sofa in one corner, her arms under her head, her 
face turned with eager expectation towards her moth- 
er, was Delphine, the eldest of the three children, who, 
indeed, had outgrown childhood, and was eighteen 
and a beauty. Jack, five years younger, bent over 
his lessons at the centre-table, where Katey, almost 
eight, nestled close to his side, her head hidden in a 
book so large that she seemed to have vanished be- 
hind a folding screen. 

‘‘ You can go if you wish to,” the mother said at 
length, fingering the note in her hand ; “ but — ” 

Delphine sat upright to clap her hands softly. 

Jack raised his face. “ I hate parties,” he said, 
sententiously. 

How can you say so ? ” returned Delphine, whose 
face flamed and shone at the vision the words had 


12 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


called up — the rare bit of color in a dull life. You 
would like to go, Katey ? ” 

A pair of great dark eyes in the midst of a pale, ab- 
sorbed face, a mass of dark hair hastily thrust back 
from a low, wide forehead, emerged from the covers 
of the book. 

‘‘ To go where ? and the child gave a bewildered 
glance from one to the other. 

Why, to Janie Home’s party, of course,” Delphine 
explained, . impatiently. Her bright, fresh nature, 
with its keen enjoyment of the present, had many 
a trial in Katey’s slov/ travelling home from a thou- 
sand miles away, where her thoughts seemed always 
wandering. 

I don’t know ; ” and one little brown elbow rested 
upon the book- cover, and one little brown cheek dis- 
appeared in the palm of her hand, as Katey proceeded 
to consider the subject. But Delphine had already 
forgotten her question. I shall have to wear the 
green pongee,” she was saying, with a sigh, and 
those dreadful slippers ! I only need a cap and 
bells,” she added, with a shrug of her shoulders. 

A warm color which was no reflection from the fire 
rose in Madam Earle’s face. Pride is the last to die. 

Perhaps you had better stay at home,” she said. 

But every mortification and pain had its bright side 
to light-hearted Delphine. I shall not mind, though, 
in the evening,” she went on; and perhaps the 
slippers will be too small by another year, and so fall 
to Katey. Poor Katey ! I’ll try and dance them out 
before that ; ” and she laughed. No care could rest 
upon Delphine ; no trouble could long shadow her 
face. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


13 


The slippers were one of those seeming blessings 
which in the end prove almost a curse. For a lit- 
tle time, several years before, an old actress had 
rented a room in the house, and one day, in looking 
over her treasures, had come upon these relics of past 
times, the rather tawdry magnificence of which had 
struck Delphine’s fancy. They were of gray kid, 
profusely ornamented with gay silk embroidery some- 
what faded, and tarnished gold braid ; and when they 
were presented to the child her joy was full. She 
could not rest content until she had displayed them 
upon her feet, a world too large though they were ; 
and one summer day she prevailed upon her mother 
to allow her to wear them to church. Poor Delphine ! 
it was an experiment ; ending as do so many among 
older and wiser people. Hardly had the great black 
gate swung to behind her before she became conscious 
of attracting an amount of attention upon which she 
had not reckoned. Stares met her, and whispered 
words, with suppressed laughter, followed her all the 
way. As she turned into Brattle Street, and ap- 
proached the church where the Earles had worshipped 
since its foundation, every eye of the gathering crowd 
seemed bent in surprise and amusement upon her 
shoes. She might better have been shod in her 
naked feet. Too proud to turn back, she hastened on 
until the pew-door made a shelter and a refuge. 
Then, during the first prayer, while the congregation 
bowed, with any but a prayerful spirit in her angry 
heart, she slipped out of the church and ran home 
througli the deserted streets. Since that day the 
slippers liad shone with diminished lustre, and only 
by gas-light, upon the rare occasions when some of 


14 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


the school-children entertained their friends. Even 
then they were regarded doubtfully by the girls, and 
would have won many a taunt and jeer from the boys, 
who go straight to the mark in such matters, but for 
Delphine’s beauty, which made of every boy a cour- 
tier ; and courtiers are smooth-tongued. 

Katey sat quite still, lost in thought, though Deh 
phine’s voice, grown merry now, still went on. What 
is it, kitten ? ” whispered Jack, struck at last by the 
strange attitude and absorbed face. Don^t you want 
to go to the party ? ” 

She turned her eyes gravely upon him without 
speaking. Then she stealthily pushed her little foot 
out from under the short gown. There was a yawn- 
ing rent upon one side of her shoe. I have no 
others ; ’’ and the dark eyes displayed a depth of de- 
spair which touched Jack’s heart. He thrust his 
freckled fingers into the red-brown hair hanging over 
his forehead, and stared at the page before him. Poor 
Jack ! What wild impossible schemes were conjured 
up in his brain at that moment, as he felt the weight 
of the hardest of all poverty to bear — that which 
goes hand in hand with pride — good, honest pride, 
too, which is not to be scoffed and sneered at ! 

I’ll have ’em mended ! ” he whispered in sudden 
inspiration, coming down from a vision of dainty pink 
satin slippers to the practical and possible. I’ll 
take them to old Crinkle the first thing in the 
morning.” 

“ Will you ? ” Katey nestled nearer to him. Dear 
old Jack ! He made many a crooked way straight to 
the little feet. Then I can go,” and her face shone ; 
“ but I never saw a party in my life. What is it like ? ” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


15 


she added curiously, as though it had been some 
strange kind of an animal, for instance. 

“ Like — 0, like — like — ’’ but, failing in a simile, 
Jack came to a pause. He was bashful to a painful 
degree, and shrank always from notice. The party, 
from which there was no escape if Delphine were 
really going, was anything but a pleasure in anticipa- 
tion, and yet he could not check Katey’s eager 
interest. 

Why, they just walk round, you know, and show 
their fine clothes,” he said at last. 

But we haven’t any fine clothes ! ” 

This was too true to be denied, and Jack was 
silenced for a moment ; but a certain pain in the dark 
eyes made him go on hiding his own forebodings, and 
holding up only what was bright and pleasant before 
the child. 

And they play games.” 

Ho they ? ” exclaimed Katey, eagerly. Then, after 
a moment’s pause, “ though I don’t know any games.” 

“ And then there’s the supper,” Jack went on, almost 
persuading himself, as Katey’s face brightened more 
and more. That’s best of all — ice-cream and or- 
anges and things, you know. Heigh-ho ! ” he sighed ; 

I wish it was over,” forgetting his part suddenly ; 
but the sigh was lost upon Katey, who bent forward 
with clasped hands and upturned, glowing face, pictur- 
ing it out in her mind, herself too insignificant a part 
of the bright vision to disturb her fancy. She drew a 
long, trembling breath. I am sure I shall like it,” 
she said softly, returning to her book, from which, 
however, she soon emerged again. “ Will Dacre Home 
be there ? ” 


16 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


I suppose so/’ Jack answered, rather gruffly. He 
was deep in his lessons again by this time, and did 
not care to be disturbed. 

He’s an awful boy,” whispered the child, solemnly. 

That’s so ; ” and Jack allowed his thoughts to 
wander again from the page before him. “ Do you 
know,” he went on in a burst of confidence, I be- 
lieve he’ll be hung yet.” 

Katey’s eyes opened round and horrified at the 
scene conjured up by his prophecy. 

“ Then they’d bring home his head,” she added after 
a moment. 

“ Bring home his head ? ” repeated Jack. 

“ Yes ; I read somewhere about Sir Tliomas More ; 
how they brought home his head to his family. I 
think,” she added circumstantially, that it was tied 
up in a napkin.” 

He wasn’t hung at all,” said Jack, from the depth 
of superior wisdom ; “ he was beheaded.” 

“ 0 1 ” Katey replied humbly. From Jack’s final 
judgments she never appealed. 

Jack was true to his promise, and carried the little 
shoe to be mended the next morning before breakfast. 
When he ran up the street after school at night, 
swinging it triumphantly by the string, a tiny figure, 
wrapped in a queer, old-fashioned cloak, waited for 
him between the heav}^ gate and one of the high posts 
surmounted by great black wooden balls. Dusky 
shadows were softening the staring red walls all 
around. Ghostly figures hastened down the street 
where the gas-lights were beginning to glimmer 
faintly. A cart, mysteriously full, had creaked over 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


17 


the snow-covered pavements, and paused before tlie 
brilliantly-illuminated house across the way. Heavily- 
laden baskets were being lifted out and carried in, 
from which, to Katey’s mind, the wonderful party was 
to be evolved. It was very cold out there in the 
wide crack between the gate and the post ; but a 
warm thrill shot through the little body as the lights 
flamed out into the street, bringing one sudden, evanes- 
cent glimpse of glory before the shades were drawn. 

It is still damp, and a good deal drawn in on one 
side,” said Jack, displaying the little shoe, which 
looked as though a bite had been taken out of it ; 
but you Avon’t care.” 

Care ? The little wet, half-worn shoe shone like 
Cinderella’s sli})per in Katey's eyes, as the great gate 
closed after them with a dull thud, and they hastened 
into the house. 

“ Come in ; let me see if you are quite nice,” called 
Madam Earle, an hour later, as she stood framed in the 
parlor door, Avhile the children descended the stairs, 
a kind of halo about their young heads cast by the 
candle carried in black Chloe’s hand. 

Delphine danced forAvard into the fire-light, and 
gave a sweeping courtesy. The folds of the old green 
pongee — scant and not over bright — fluttered out as 
she bent to the floor. But against the dead green of 
her gown, her neck and arms shone pure Avhite, and 
the merry brown eyes, raised to her mother’s face, 
held a charm beyond pearls and diamonds. She 
thrust out her foot ruefully. It was encased in one 
of the fantastic slippers. A shadow crossed Madam 
Earle’s face. She felt more keenly than they each 
2 


18 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


thorn which oorerty made to pierce the pride of her 
children. 

But I don’t mind/’ Delphine said brightly. “ I 
would sooner dance in my bare feet than sit in a 
corner in satin slippers.” But Delphine would never 
sit in a corner ; of that her mother was sure. 

Then Katey crept out of the shadows, and stood 
timidly awaiting inspection. 

0 Katey,” laughed Delphine, I can see nothing 
but your eyes and the great flowers on your gown ! ” 

“ Are they so very large ? ” and Katey looked anx- 
iously down upon the old-fashioned brocade in which 
she was arrayed. It was covered with impossible 
roses, and had come down in various shapes and styles 
from a former generation, having been made over at 
last for Delphine in a fashion quite gone by, since 
which time it had descended to Katey. 

Are they so very large ? ” she repeated, as a mo- 
ment of silence followed her question. 

^^Well, no,” burst out Jack; ‘‘if you call them 
sunflowers, kitten, they are small.” 

Katey’s eyes had turned imploringly to him. She 
gave a quick little gasp of pain, which he did not no- 
tice. Her mother’s arm drew her forward. 

“It is a very handsome piece of silk,” she said, 
stroking it with her hand. “ I have heard my mother 
say that when this gown was brought from England 
there was not another in the colony that could com- 
pare with it. It would almost stand alone.” 

“ But it will never stand quite alone,” laughed Del- 
phine, to whom this consolation had been adminis- 
tered many times. “ Unfortunately, some one of us 
will always have to stand in it.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


19 


Never mind/’ whispered Jack in Katey’s ear, as 
the heavy gate swung after them, and they emerged 
into the street ; nobody will notice you, and you look 
nice enough, any way ; not handsome, of course, like 
Delphine.” 

0, no,” assented Katey, who was quite content to 
be thus estimated, and began to be cheered even so 
soon by Jack’s equivocal praise. The little heart had 
been full of anxiety a moment before ; but if Jack 
was satisfied it must be that she was equal to the oc- 
casion. Jack Avould know ; he had been to parties 
before. Poor Jack ! whose heart was heavy enough 
on his own account at that very moment. 

“ Why do you say so ? ” exclaimed Delphine, sharply. 
She had caught his words, low though they were. 
‘‘ You know we look as though we had come out of 
the ark. But I don’t care ; ” and she ran up the steps. 
Carriages were crowding the narrow street; white- 
robed little forms were being lifted out and borne in 
tenderly. A gentleman brushed past them as they 
stood in the doorway ; he carried a dainty figure 
in his arms. “ Here, Pet, your fiowers,” as he set her 
down ; and the little gloved hands received a miniature 
bouquet as the door was flung wide open. A soft, 
warm air, sweet with the scent of flowers, a blaze of 
light, the sound of music — all poured out to meet 
them. Katey, shivering with excitement, overcome 
with awe, stood still. What are you waiting for ? ” 
It was Delphine’s voice which roused her. Delphine’s 
hand pulled her forward. She found herself mounting 
the stairs, led into a room musical with the tinkle of 
tiny belles transformed beyond all recognition — her 
schoolmates though many of them were. 


20 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Is this the party ? ’’ she gasped. 

Don’t be silly/’ Delphine replied. This is the 
dressing-room — don’t you see? Nothing but chil- 
dren ! ” she said aloud, as the maid, who had been 
fitting dainty slippers to tiny feet, came to meet them. 

Yes, miss,” the girl replied, obsequiously : every- 
body gave pretty Delphine her due of honor and 
respect ,• “ but it is early yet ; and indeed there are 
some young ladies and gentlemen down stairs.” 

I know it is early,” Delphine replied carelessly, 
shaking out the clinging folds of the green pongee 
and drawing on her gloves ; but we are neighbors.” 

Katey, in the mean time, had removed her cloak, not 
without some hesitation and a throb of terror as to 
the result. 

0, what a funny dress ! ” exclaimed a little miss 
in white lace and pink satin ribbons, staring at the 
brocade gown. 

Such flowers ! Why, Katey Earle ! ” added a 
school acquaintance, slipping out of a white opera 
cloak and drawing near. 

Jack says they are not as big as sunflowers,” 
Katey ventured, deprecatingly. 

Of course not, you little goose ; ” and Delphine 
joined in the laugh which followed the words. 

Come, it is time to go down.” And, glad of any 
change, Katey followed her with tingling cheeks and 
a heavy, anxious heart. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


21 


CHAPTER II. 

KATEY FINDS A FRIEND. 

T ACK was waiting for them just outside the dress- 
^ ing-room door. He had become all at once very 
stiff, and red-faced, and queer, and not like Jack at all. 
His hands seemed to have swollen, and protruded, 
very red and more freckled than ever, to an unusal 
length beyond the sleeves of his jacket ; and why 
did he look so choked and strange about the neck? 
Katey, grown suddenly observant through painful 
experience, gave him a quick, searching glance from 
head to foot, mentally comparing him with the fine 
young gentlemen gathered at the head of the stairs. 
There was a difference, but in what it lay she could 
not tell ; certainly boys’ clothes were all alike, just 
jackets and trousers, she thought, enviously. But 
boys’ clothes are not all alike, as poor Jack had found, 
to his sorrow, in that long ten minutes of waiting, the 
torments of which Katey fortunately did not know. 
She drew in a deep breath of comfort ; she could bear 
the flaming brocade even, which refused to stand 
alone, if she were quite sure that Jack was not hurt. 

I’ll find you a seat somewhere,” said Delphine, 
when they had crossed the room and presented them- 
selves to the little hostess, who received her guests 
with the assurance of years in society. A hush, then 


22 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


a low titter, had followed them. Jack’s face flamed, 
and the hands hanging awkwardly at his side clinched 
themselves for an instant. Delphine raised her head 
proudly, but her face grew white ; only Katey, be- 
wildered by the bright scene, heard nothing. 

There ! ” and Delphine tucked the child into a cor- 
ner ; you can sit here until they begin to play,” which 
Katey was only too glad to do. The first moment of 
confusion and bewilderment was past, and the room 
seemed suddenly full of strange, unfriendly eyes 
searching her out. She shrank as far from sight as 
possible. Jack lingered awkwardly beside her for a 
few moments ; then the crowd swallowed him up. 
Delphine, too, disappeared ; but, secure in her corner, 
Katey for the time was happy, in that pitiful, unnatu- 
ral happiness for a child — the being permitted to look 
on while others play. 

They were forming a contra- dance in the next room. 
One of the young ladies belonging to the house, busily 
pairing off the little people, paused before Katey at 
last. Will you have a partner, little girl ? ” 

I — I don’t know,” stammered Katey. She did 
not understand the (piestion ; but this might be one 
of the games of which Jack had told her. 

Can you dance ? ” The girl spoke impatiently. 
What a stupid, little old-fashioned child it was, to be 
sure ! 

I don’t know,” Katey answered with grave con- 
sideration ; I never tried.” 

The girl stared, laughed, and went on. 

I almost think I could,” the child continued to her- 
self, leaning out from her corner to watch the dancers. 
She was growing accustomed to the scene, and now 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


23 


a desire to participate in it seized upon her. With a 
glowing, eager face and sliining eyes she followed the 
strange movements, while the music, rising and fall- 
ing, beat its own time in her heart. There was a 
little stir, and the crowd about her pw:essed back ; the 
green pongee fluttered before her eyes, as Delphine, 
flushed and radiant, chas'r; down the room. Her 
hands were crossed in those of an old -young man, 
with a bald spot on the top of his head, and a murmur 
of admiration followed the twinkle of the bespangled 
slippers. Katey’s glance was full of breathless de- 
light ; she gloried in Delphine’s beauty ; she shared 
her triumph. In her eagerness she did not notice the 
approach of a set of young fops of her own age who 
had been watching her for some time from across the 
room. A sudden pinch, causing her to utter a half- 
suppressed cry as she grasped her arm, called them 
flrst to her notice. 

Hello, granny ! She looked up, her eyes full of 
the tears the pain had brought, to And a face made 
horrible by contortions, close to her own. Dacre 
Home, upon the edge of the group, laughed a cruel, 
mocking laugh. 0, come on,” he said, superciliously ; 
“ don’t torment the child.” There was a spark of feel- 
ing somewhere in the boy which had been touched 
b}^ the child’s tears. 

^^Jimminy, what shoes!” exclaimed another, as 
they moved away. The little foot had been thrust 
out in her excitement, displaying the marks of old 
Crinkle’s skill to all beholders. A sob rose in her 
throat as she hastily drew it under her gown. The 
pain in her arm stung her still ; but it was nothing to 
the pain that cruel taunt had awakened in her heart. 


24 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


Oj where was Jack ! If he would only take her home ! 
Why did she ever come ? The glamour was all gone. 
It was not fairydorn any longer, as, shrinking back out 
of sight, she wiped her eyes stealthily. 

Delphine sought her out at last. What, still here I 
Why don’t you go and play with the others ? ” 

The child had choked back her tears at Delphine’ s 
approach. A sensitive pride made her hide her bitter 
experience. Jack was somewhere happy. Delphine, 
too, flamed upon her like a star ; it was only herself 
who was miserable ; nobody should know ; she could 
bear it for a little time ; they would go home pres- 
ently. I would rather stay here,” she said ; be- 
sides, I can see everything.” 

“ Vfell, you are the oddest little thing,” Delphine 
replied. To her, seeing was but a small part of the 
evening’s pleasure, and conscious of thus having done 
her duty in looking alter Katey, she sailed away 
again upon the arm of the old-young man, — if one 
could bo said to sail under sucli scant canvas. But 
even this little exchange of words created a diversion, 
and made the cliild less miserable. Then by leaning 
forward she discovered that she could hide her shoes 
with the skirt of her gown. This, too, was a comfort ’ 
and her heart grew more light. Then, wlien the 
games really began, and one and anotlier saw tliat she 
did not join in them, tiny fans and lace-edged hand- 
kerchiefs were laid in her lap for safe-keeping, caus- 
ing a friendly exchange of words, and giving her a 
kind of silent partnership in them. So her enjoyment, 
slowly stealing back, reached its culmination, when 
Jack presently came down the room, very red and 
swollen in appearance still, as though his jacket were 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


25 


much too tight for him, but with Josie Durant, the 
prettiest little lady in the room, hanging upon his 
arm. Nothing escaped Katey’s eyes, from the little 
white feet shining through the open- worked stockings 
above the satin slippers, to the yellow hair coiffured 
in the latest style over the childish face. 

I told your brother that he ought to go and find 
you,’’ said the little lady, with an authoritative air, 
which seemed to Katey very droll ; “ and so, you see, 
I’ve brought him.” Jack reddened and laughed, look- 
ing rather silly, but thoroughly pleased. Yes, Katey 
saw, and so did all the little lords and ladies, busy 
with their game, regarding her with new favor ; for 
did not Josie Durant wear real diamond earrings ? 

‘‘ What does he like to do ? ” the little girl went on, 
still coquettishly ignoring Jack’s name. “ He will not 
play anything.” 

Jack, twisting a button upon his jacket, and blushing 
up to his eyes, ofiered not a word in his own defence. 

Let me see,” Katey pondered gravely, seized with 
a violent interest in Jack’s favorite pursuits ; “ he likes 
to slide down hill.” 

Jack laughed. 

‘‘ But you can’t slide down hill at parties,” the child 
replied. 

No,” assented . 

So I don’t know what we shall do with him ; ” as 
tiiough Jack must be immediately employed, or, at 
least, amused. Please fasten my glove.” Jack’s 
red fingers resolved themselves into ten thumbs, each 
one more clumsy than the otliers. 

“ 0, let me do it ; ” and Katey drew the button into 
place. 


26 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“ I haven’t seen you before to-night/’ said Miss 
Josie, while this operation was going on. With 
instinctive politeness, which is only kindness, after 
all, the little girl tried to keep her eyes from the flow- 
ered gown. Seems to me you haven’t been around 
much.” 

No-o,” Katey replied, slowly, giving a final pat to 
the little wrist before releasing it, I haven’t, much.’' 

She could not mortify Jack before Miss Josie by 
confessing that she had sat upon that blessed ottoman 
in the corner ever since the party began. Instinctive- 
ly she guarded the honor of the family. 

Well, we must go,” said the kind little tyrant, 
presently, turning Jack around. Perhaps we’ll come 
again. I forgot to ask if you were having a good 
time,” she threw over her shoulder. 

“ Beautiful,” Katey responded, warmly. There was 
no doubt upon the subject in her mind, as they disap- 
peared, the tiny gloved hand still resting upon the 
sleeve of Jack’s outgroAvn jacket. And then there’s 
the supper,” thought the child, who was weighing and 
measuring her joys as only they do to whom joys are 
few and rare. 

The music startled the little people in the midst of 
their game. It was a march now, and a long proces- 
sion began to form. All the little fans and handker- 
chiefs were caught from Katey ’s lap, as their owners 
hastened to place themselves in the line. The young 
lady Avho had offered her a partner for the first dance 
was arranging the little masters and misses in couples. 
Katey, in her corner, was quite overlooked. Perhaps 
Jack would come, she tliought, anxiously scanning the 
jackets dancing about before her eyes. Once in the 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


27 


distance she caught a glimpse of the green pongee. 
Delphine was a young lady, and between her and 
Katey, by reason of years, was a great gulf fixed ; but 
Jack ! — it was not like Jack to forget. The proces- 
sion moved out of the room. Katey’s heart swelled 
with grief, which changed to anger against the little 
lady who had satin slippers, real diamond earrings, 
and — J ack. A tear had fallen into her lap upon the 
poor despised roses, where it shone for a moment like 
dew. But as her anger rose the tears dried away. 
‘^Jack ought not to do so,’’ she said aloud, in a 
strange, excited tone. She was alone ; the last couple 
had passed out ; the music sounded faint in the dis- 
tance. She started up with a sudden purpose. I’ll 
go home.” She darted out into the hall, at the farther 
end of which was the supper-room. Between the 
parted forms gathered about the door she caught a 
momentary glimpse of the glories beyond. Merry, 
shrill voices came out to her with the sweet strains of 
the music. A coidusion of bright, happy faces, of 
fairy forms, danced before her eyes — a paradise from 
which she was shut out; and 0, dreadful to see, 
there was Jack — her Jack — with no care or anx- 
iety upon his face, bashful, but triumpliant, with Josie 
Durant at his side. He held her plate; one of her 
dainty gloves peeped out of his pocket. Katey 
marked it all, as she stood for a moment with parted 
lips, flushed cheeks, and little dark hands clinched 
tight. A pale-faced boy, sitting upon the stairs with 
a crutch lying beside him, leaned over to watch the 
queer little figure. What could be the matter with 
the child, as, suddenly turning, she darted up the 
stairs, falling over the crutch in her haste ! 


28 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


One moment, please. He caught at the brocade 
gown to save her. I believe I shall have to trouble 
you for my crutch.” It had slid to the foot of the 
stairs. 

“ 0 /’ said Katey, recovering herself, and diverted 
for the moment from lier purpose, I must have struck 
it ; but you see Ihn in a hurry,” as she ran down to 
recover it. 

‘‘ Yes, I should think so.” A¥hat an odd little crea- 
ture it was, to be sure, in the queer, old-fashioned 
gown, and with a mass of dark hair tossed by her fall 
about her face ! But woift you sit down a moment? 
It is rather lonely here all by one’s self” 

Katey had given him a hurried inspection. He was 
years older than Jack, but not so handsome, though 
his clothes were finer, and not at all outgrown. Boor 
Katey liad become observant in such matters. Then 
he really desired her to sit by him. That was being 
almost like the other girls in pretty gowns down 
stairs ; and her queer little heart grew light again. 

I believe I will,” she said, perching herself primly 
upon the stair above him. But you sliould not stay 
here,” she went on, as visions of the glories below 
floated before her mind ; you won’t get any supper.” 

0, yes, I will ; they told me to remain here out of 
the crowd until they sent one of the waiters to me.” 

Katey had not the least conception as to whom 
they” referred; but she had become somewhat em- 
bittered by her late experience, and inclined to doubt 
everybody. “Perhaps they’ll forget you,” she sug- 
gested, secretly wiping away a tear with the corner 
of a very large embroidered handkerchief 

“ 0, no ; they won’t do that, I am sure.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


29 


'' I don’t know,” persisted Katey, sorrowfully, they 
forgot me.” 

n q£ replied. So that was the 

trouble, he thought. I am not really glad, of course, 
and I don’t see how it could have happened,” he 
added, diplomatically ; but how fortunate for me ! I 
should have had to sit here alone.” 

Katey made no reply to the words so full of kindly 
tact. She seemed lost in thought. The little hands 
were clasped tight over the great roses blossoming 
upon the diminutive knees. The wide forehead under 
the dark tangles which had fallen over it was drawn 
by two horizontal lines where the eyes came together 
in consultation. How should you like,” she began 
again, presently, “ to have your brother go off with 
another girl ? ” 

The boy was rather abashed by the suddenness, 
not to say the strangeness, of the proposition. Well,” 
he replied, slowly, if she was a very nice girl — ” 

With real diamond earrings,” interpolated Katey, 
not losing sight of the honor conferred upon the 
family. 

Yes,” assented the boy, gravely. Katey’s great 
eyes were upon him, and he dared not smile ; “ and 
open-work stockings,” she continued. 

^^Yes,” he went on, and with open-work stock- 
ings, by all means ; a very nice girl,” he ventured. 

Yes,” said Katey, warming to the subject, “ not a 
bit ashamed to speak to anybody in a corner.” 

“ 0, no, not at all,” repeated the boy. Why, I 
think I should like it very well.” 

“ So do I,” exclaimed Katey, now thoroughly aroused 
to the advantages of the situation, and veering en- 
tirely around. I think it is beautiful.” 


30 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“ Here it is now ; ’’ and her new friend leaned down 
to receive a plate loaded with strange delicacies. 
^^Pomp!’’ he called after the waiter, who was an 
awful personage in Katey^s eyes, another plate, and 
sharp, now.’’ 

He piled the lion’s share into her lap, until the child 
laughed aloud in her delight. It was not for the 
cakes and candies ; she was too happy to eat ; but it 
was so delightful to be waited upon 5 to be almost i:ke 
the little girls down stairs ! “ Jack said the supper 

would be best of all; and — there he is now!” as 
a boy suddenly appeared, darting in and out of the 
parlors, and thrusting his head into the corners, as 
though searching for some one. Jack ! ” she called, 
nearly overturning her plate as she started from her 
seat. 

“ What are you doing up there ? ” Jack responded, 
rather crossly, as, heated and breathless, he discov- 
ered her at last. 0,” in a milder tone, as he caught 
sight of her companion, I thought you were alone.” 

No,” replied Katey, I am not alone at all. There 
is a very nice boy here ; ’most as nice as you, but not so 
handsome,” she added, in a whisper, speaking through 
the stair rails. 

The very nice boy laughed, and appeared a little 
embarrassed by this frank speech, which somewhat 
mollified Jack. “I’ll take care of your sister,” he 
said ; “ you can find her here after supper.” 

“ Yes,” added Katey, sitting down again to her nuts 
and raisins. “You can go back. Jack; I don’t care 
anything at all about it now.” What it was about 
which Katey had ceased to care, Jack did not pause 
to inquire, but, thus relieved from all responsibility, 
hastened away again. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


31 


An hour later, when, hooded and cloaked, the chil- 
dren trooped down the stairs to go home, in the mo- 
ment of waiting Katey found herself once more by the 
side of her new acquaintance. He stood leaning upon 
his crutch, looking pale and tired. You’d better go 
and sit down,” she said, in a motherly tone, which 
greatly amused the boy. 

I must stand sometimes for a change,” he replied ; 
you see I can’t run about as you do.” 

I don’t care to run about,” said Katey, with an ill- 
defined attempt at consolation. Still,” she added, 
with grave truthfulness, “ I suppose I should care to 
if I couldn’t. Then Delphine’s hand drew her away. 

Why did you do so ? ” Katey said, when the door 
had closed after them, and they were out in the dark, 
still night. Why did you pull me away ? I wanted 
to say good-night to him.” 

‘^Who is he?” Delphine asked, in reply ; for Del- 
phine, with all her gayety, had a high regard for the 
proprieties, and looked with distrust upon this sudden 
friendliness. 

I don’t know ; but he is a very nice boy.” 

But what is his name?” persisted Delphine. 
“ Of course some one introduced you.” 

No, they didn’t ; but he is a very nice boy.” 

Boy ! ” repeated Delphine ; “ he is as old as I, and 
I should not have thought, Katey, that you would be 
so familiar with a stranger.” 

Poor Katey, darting before the others in sudden 
anger, feeling dimly that the reproof was unjust, an- 
swered only with a little burst of sobs, as she ran up 
the steps of the ghostly old house. But the tears 
soon dried away ; it was only a patter of great drops 


32 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


after that little hot flash. It had been a beautiful time^ 
after all, she thought, creeping up the wide stairs in 
the darkness to where Chloe sat over the fire in Del- 
phine’s room, half asleep, waiting to undress them. 

Dere warn't nuffin so fine as dis yere, I’ll be 
bounV’ she said, fumbling with dusky fingers over the 
fastenings of the brocade gown, as the fire-light made 
all the roses bloom again. 

“ There was certainly nothing at all like it,” laughed 
Delphine, shaking down her long, rippling hair. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


33 


CHAPTER III. 


HAPPY DAYS. 


MONG the most vivid recollections in after years 



of Katey’s early life were those associated with 
tiie great brick school-house at the West End, where 
so many hours of each endless day were passed — 
the paved yard in which the girls, old and young, 
walked solemnly at recess under the eye of tlie moni- 
tor ; the long, dimly-lighted alley at one side of the 
gate, where they promenaded in stormy weather, 
whispering secrets ” which might have been shouted 
upon the house-top ; the wide plank walk over the 
Avay, upon the side street, worn into grooves by 
little feet, where games which possibly still rule 
and reign among little folks were played at noon time. 
The great trees in the hospital yard leaned over and 
stretched out their arms here to the passers, bestowing 
a benediction and blessing of pleasant shade upon the 
children. Thick with leaves were the branches and 
white with dust in the summer time. Do other chil- 
dren play there now ? 

Beyond were the great gates giving entrance to the 
hospital grounds, wiLli the porter's lodge, like a sen- 
try- box just inside. Katey used to dart past it, half 
fearful of recall, on Saturday afternoons, when she had 
permission to come here and spend an hour or two 


3 


34 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


with her old nurse, Elsie Bird, who had charge now of 
the queer, round laundry-house, with its odd, steamy 
odors, and many delightful mysteries. Upon a bit of 
carpet laid over the brick floor where she stood before 
the table encircling the ironing-room, Elsie was always 
found, surrounded by her satellites — pleasant-faced 
Irish girls, who never failed to have a word of welcome 
for the child. A tall, gaunt woman, of muscular build, 
was Elsie, but with voice and ways strangely shy and 
gentle. She made these visits high holidays to Katey. 
A tiny polishing iron and long rolls of linen bandages 
always awaited the child, who played at ironing ; and 
when these failed to amuse, her hand held fast in 
Elsie’s, she strayed through the long, bewildering cor- 
ridors, up the wide stairs, and into tlie strange stillness 
of the regions where the sick, and sore, and hurt lay 
in their white beds. Never like human creatures did 
these sufferers appear to her. Mysterious beings tliey 
were, unlike any who walked the streets outside, with 
their great glassy eyes following her as she passed fear- 
fully over the bare floor. Sometimes they paused in 
the dissecting-room, where the vacant seats rose to the 
ceiling, and in the midst of which was the table wliere 
the sufferers lay down to be healed by the knife. The 
nurses, meeting Elsie, would recount some fearful tale 
of disease, or pain, or death ; Katey, horror-stricken 
but fascinated, listening the while. Or, to please 
her, as they thought, they showed the skeleton in his 
case, — a ghastly sight, which haunted her afterwards 
at night, — and the shrivelled, blackened mummy, 
with the scarab which had been worshipped thousands 
of years before fastened to its nose. Are they there 
«till? 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


35 


One afternoon, as she bent over her ironing-table 
improvised from a chair, she was conscious of a sudden 
hush throughout the queer high room. Looking up 
from her little round-edged iron, she saw a group of 
gentlemen just within the door. The pleasant-faced 
superintendent often came here. Katey had seen him 
many times. He beckoned to her now, as Elsie left her 
work, and the girls, struck with strange awe, made con- 
tinual obeisance, bowing to the floor, yet not for him. 

Tliis is Father Mathew,’’ said he, kiniy, as the child 
witii her little hot, red face stood before him, the roll 
of linen tangled about her feet. She noticed then tliat 
some of the party wore long, straight coats, like that of 
the old priest who went up and down Poplar Street 
sometimes ; and at these words, one, in advance of the 
others, who had been speaking to Elsie, took her little 
hand, still hot from the iron, in his, with a murmur of 
kind words. Long afterwards she remembered the 
hand-clasp and the gentle tones of his voice, when all 
recollection of the face or flgure of the Irish reformer 
had faded from her mind. 

Then what delight it was, when the day drew near 
its end, still clinging to Elsie’s gown, to follow her to 
the low room where the supper table was spread out, 
with great stone pitchers of milk, and high, neatly ar- 
ranged piles of brown and white bread ; and last of all, 
to gather with the household in the great wainscoted 
hall for prayers. The summer twilight stole in at the 
open windows with the rustle of the leaves outside. 
The noise of the city had died away to a murmur 
pleasant to the ear. Katey, kneeling upon the bare 
floor, saw the white faces of the sick, who had crept 
down, glorified by the last rays of the sun ; and taking 


36 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


in none of the rolling words of the prayer, had yet an 
awful consciousness that God came very near. 

The afternoon following the party the girls trooped 
out at the door of the high brick school-house, the con- 
strained voices breaking into call and shout as the 
final bounds were passed and they separated to go their 
several ways. Katey, in a little red hood, and an old 
brown sack, rather pinched about the arms, but of a 
material which had been fine in its day, came slowly 
up the street among the last with Josie Durant. Her 
progress was somewhat impeded by the very large 
overshoes upon her feet, which had belonged originally 
to Delphine, and would yawn at the sides as though 
they laughed at every step she made, to say nothing 
of catching at the toes against projections so far be- 
yond the little feet as to be out of all calculation. 

There was a row of English-basement houses, com- 
fortable and even handsome, along the street, in the 
front window of each of which, shining with silver and 
glass, a tea table was set out. It was a daily source 
of enjoyment to Katey to speculate upon the delicacies 
which would doubtless appear when the shades were 
drawn, the gas lighted, and the families assembled. 
Though not alone, she did not forget it now. Mince 
pie and ice-cream, — yes, and jujube-paste ; ’’ she was 
settling this rather unwholesome bill of fare in her 
mind when some one ran hastily by and up the high 
stone steps to the house. It was little Annie Conway, 
whose seat was across the aisle from her own at 
school. 

Is that you, Katey Earle? I’m going up to the 
Common to coast. Why don’t you go ? ” 

The wind blew an icy blast down the street ; the 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


37 


bank of cloud behind the hospital was already flaming 
red in the sunset. I don’t know/’ Katey replied, 
slowly ; I believe I’ll ask mother. You’ll come, too, 
Josie ? ” 

But the little lady was undecided. There’ll bo a 
crowd of boys,” uttering the word boys as though it 
had been mos(piitos, or any other swarming plague. 

But we might find Jack. He would take care of 

us.” 

“Who is Jack?” queried the little girl, swinging 
from the door-knob above them. 

“Don’t you know Jack?” exclaimed Katey, too 
much astonished at her benighted condition to attempt 
an explanation. 

“ lie's Katoy’s brother,” said Josie, while a soft lit- 
tle blush, the shade of the pretty pink hood upon her 
head, stole into her cheeks. 

“ 0,” the little girl replied, carelessly ; adding, with 
the unpleasant frankness of childhood, “ it’s that 
freckled boy.” 

“ No, it isn’t,” denied Katey, planting Delphine’s 
overshoes like a battery before the steps, prepared for 
a siege of any length in Jack’s behalf. 

“ Come, Katey,” whispered Josie, persuasively, pull- 
ing at her sleeve as the child shouted back, “ ’Tis too ; 
I saw him last night at the party ; and he’s awful bash- 
ful.” 

This was altogether too much to bear without com- 
mencing hostilities. Before the words fairly reached 
her, Katey had seized a handful of snow and discharged 
it at the child. But as she aimed with the accuracy 
peculiar to the sex even in a youthful stage, it only 
flew a short distance in the air above her, to descend, 


38 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


like curses, in a shower upon her own head, as the 
door closed hastily after the retreating little figure. 

Don’t mind it,” said Josie, in a conciliatory tone, 
which, however, only exasperated Katey. She didn’t 
mean anything ; and then you know your brother i& 
— that is, he has — ” 

Katey faced her with a terrible countenance, in 
which surprise and pain waged a warfare with indig- 
nation. You’ve took sides with her ! ” she gasped, 
her grammar flying to the winds. I’ll just go home 
and tell J ack ! ” 

You can if you wish to,” returned Josie, her face 
growing white. But I didn’t think you were such a 
girl as that; and — and I haven’t taken sides at all.” 
The color had returned to her face, but there was a 
sob in her throat as she walked on alone. 

Poor Katey, whose fitful moods were no less sur- 
prising to herself than to others, shufiled along the 
street very sorry and penitent, the anger having died 
down in her heart as quickly as it ro^e. And what 
would Jack say ? An awful burden of remorse fell 
upon her with that thought. 

They had turned the corner, and were approaching 
the old brick church, where their ways separated. 
Katey moved the overshoes at a quicker pace until she 
gained Josie’s side. “ Are — are you going up to the 
Common ? ” she ventured, in a very weak voice. 

I don’t suppose you want me to go,” Josie replied, 
staring straight before her, the tears still wet on her 
cheeks. 

Katey saw her advantage. There is nothing like 
taking high ground and assuming to be the injured 
party in a quarrel. “ Now if you are cross just because 
I said that — ” she began. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


39 


I am not cross.^’ The tables were suddenly turnedj 
as little Miss Josie found to her bewilderment. 

Aren’t you ! ” Katey exclaimed in a happy voice. 
A great load was lifted from her. Then I’ll run home 
and ask mother.” Her heart was much lighter than 
her feet as she started olf down the street upon a 
shuffling run. 

Katey ! ” called Josie ; and when she returned, 
‘‘ You’re not going to tell Jack? ” 

0, no, indeed ; ” as though such a thought had never 
entered her mind. “ Besides, it might hurt his feel- 
ings,” she added in a low tone, confidentially, for 
you know he is awful freckled.” 

Half an hour later they moved slowly up the long 
walk of the Common. Night was begmning to steal 
over the city. Lights shone in the windows along the 
street, and twinkled among the trees in the distance 
like blinking eyes. A keen north wind rattled the 
frozen branches overhead, sending more than one 
shower of icicles upon the little heads. I wish we 
hadn’t come,” sighed Katey. ‘H don’t see where Jack 
can be. — There he is now, I believe,” as a sturdy 
little figure, very much muffled up about the ears, and 
dragging a sled after him, came down one of the cross 
paths from the long slide where the coasters fiew over 
the hill like black balls in the twilight. 

‘^Holloa — what are you here for?” was Jack’s 
rather discouraging greeting, as he caught sight of 
the little red hood. 

“We wanted to slide,” Katey replied, humbly; 
then she stepped forward, revealing Josie, who was 
staring with a very prim, absorbed air at the lamp- 
post close by. 


40 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


0 ! and Jack removed the lion’s skin at once, 
and became awkward and meek as a lamb. 

It’s too late to slide, but I might draw one of you 
home,” he suggested, bashfully. 

There was a momentary dispute between the little 
girls. You.” “ No, ^/ow.” But at last Josie’s bright- 
colored skirts were tucked about the little feet upon 
the old sled, and the small procession started home- 
ward. They were passing one of the crowded en- 
trances to the Common, on their way up the hill, when 
Katey darted away, dropping one of the overshoes in 
her haste. She had espied a tall boy leaning upon a 
crutch, and recognized in him her friend of the night 
before. But when she stood, an odd little figure, just 
before him, seized with shyness, she had not a word 
to say. 

Why, how do you do ? ” exclaimed the boy, cor- 
dially. 

0, I am well,” replied Katey, who recognized no 
spiritual significance in the greeting, but a literal 
desire to know of her health. Here is Jack, and 
^er,” she added, in a loud whisper, as Jack and Josie 
came up. 

“ Her ? ” repeated the boy, inquiringly. 0, yes ; 
the very nice little girl. I understand.” 

What do you mean, Katey Earle, ” exclaimed 
Jack, “ by running off in that way?” Poor Jack had 
recovered the overshoe with some difficulty, and was 
rather cross and breathless with his efforts in over - 
taking its owner. 

“ I don’t mean anything,” Katey replied, simply. 

I only came here to see this boy.” 

The boy smiled and touched his cap to Miss Josie, 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


41 


wlio made a prim little bow from her temporary 
tlirone. “ 1 saw you last evening, I think.” 

0, yes,” said Jack. You’re the fellow who was s 
sitting on the stairs. I should think it would be 
awful dull — ” he went on, fixing his eyes upon tlie 
crutch ; then he stopped. But the boy took up his 
words. “It is dull enough,” he said ; “but I hope it 
is only for a little wliile. 1 fell on the ice a month 
ago, and liave been laid up ever since. I am just 
getting about again.” 

“ 0 ! ” said Katcy, immensely relieved, and yet upon 
second thought rather disappointed that her hero 
should be much like other boys, after all. “Then 
you don’t mean to go on crutches always?” 

“ 1 don’t mean to, certainly,” replied the boy, who 
seemed a little embarrassed by all this conversation 
about himself. “ Are you having a pleasant time ? ” 
he asked Katey, suddenly ; “ 1 have been watching 
the coasters.” 

“ 0, yes,” replied Katey, whose little face was quite 
blue, and who stood with the unprotected foot deep 
in the snow ; “ beautiful ! ” 

“ But where is your sled ? ” 

“ I use Jack’s ; that is, when he’ll let me,” she add- 
ed, with a truthfulness which did not tend to con- 
ciliate Jack. 

The boy seemed to consider a moment, as they stood 
just within the iron posts, pushed and jostled by the 
passers hurrying in and out. 

Jack moved impatiently. “ Come, Katey.” 

“ I’m going homo now,” said her friend ; “ perhaps 
you will let me walk u[) Park Street with you; I live 
there.” And he pointed to the block of houses just 


42 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


beyond the church. They moved on, Katey trying to 
accommodate her short steps to the uneven ones by 
her side. I thought I should see you again,” said 
the boy. Sometimes you are sure of things, you 
know, even when you can’t tell why.” 

Katey made no reply. She did not understand at 
all what he was saying ; she was watching the queei* 
little shadows dancing upon the snow under the gas- 
liglit, her ears full of the sound of tinkling bells. 

But wlien I say good night now,” he added, “ I can’t 
feel sure again, because I am going away.” 

But you’ll come back again ; people always come 
back.” This had been Katey’s experience. 

0, yes, some time, perhaps. But here we are now. 
Wait a moment,” he added, hurriedly ; ‘‘ or come in.” 

0, no,” Katey replied, moving back, yet gazing in 
at the open door, with its revelation of bright light, 
soft colors, and of an airy, beautiful figure with out- 
spread wings, in a niche above the stairs, ready, it 
seemed to the child, to fioat down upon them. 

Do come in a moment.” 

No,” Katey replied, coming back to realities ; 
mother does not allow us to go into people’s houses 
without knowing who they are.” 

That’s polite,” whispered Jack. But fortunately 
the boy had disappeared at the first word. 

“ What can he want us to wait for ? ” interposed 
Josio, anxious for peace. 

Perhaps he is going to bring us some ice-cream,” 
suggested Katey, whose imagination knew no bounds. 

I liope not,” laughed Josie, wrapping her be- 
numbed little hands in her cloak. 

But before Katey had time for any further sugges- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


43 


tions, her friend appeared with a handsome sled in his 
arms. Jack’s in its brightest days could never have 
been like this. 

I want to give it to you/’ he said to Katey. “ I 
shall never use it again ; besides, I am going away.” 
lie spoke in haste, as though she might interrupt him ; 
but she only stared, standing motionless, the dark 
eyes opened to their fullest extent. 

Jack pulled her sleeve. Why don’t you say 
something ? ” 

“ 0, my ! ” gasped Katey, thus reminded of pro- 
prieties. 

<< Why don’t you thank him ? ” and again Jack 
caught her sleeve. 

Jack,” Katey exclaimed, finding her voice at 
last, “ she never will let me take it, I know. Don’t 
you remember the turtle ? ” 

Then followed some whispered reminiscences, which 
the boy pretended not to notice. 

You see,” Katey said, turning to him after a mo- 
ment, you might got well, and want it yourself.” 

I am too old to use it now.” 

But you might sell it,” suggested the child, who 
had lived in the midst of the strictest calculations as 
to ways and means. I should think,” she added, 
with grave deliberation, dropping her head upon one 
side, as she had seen Chloe do, I should think you 
might get as much as twenty-five cents for it.” 

Jack laughed outright ; but her friend answered in 
all seriousness, I don’t care to sell it. I have made 
up my mind to give it away — perhaps to a little girl 
I know who has two already,” he added, carelessly. 

0, no ! ” 


4:4 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


The boy smiled, deepening the light in the gray 
eyes hid under a rather heavy brow. Then perhaps 
you will take it.” 

Katey looked at Jack, who was her moral thermom- 
eter. “ Mother won’t care,” he said ; I’ll tell her all 
about it.” 

‘‘Will you? 0, you are the goodest Jack!” ex- 
claimed the cliild, in a burst of gratitude and delight. 
“ You see,” she explained to the boy, “mother never 
allows us to take anything from people we don’t — ” 
know anything about, she was going to say ; but here 
Jack gave the little sleeve a twitch, abruptly ending, 
the sentence. 

“ What are you pulling me for. Jack ? ” she said, 
gravely ; “ you know it is so.” 

But Jack had uttered a brief “ good night,” and 
was already moving down the street. Katey took the 
sled in her arms. “ I suppose I shan’t see you again,” 
said the boy, as she deposited it upon the snow, and 
arranged the rope to her satisfaction. “ 1 shall be off 
so soon now.” 

“Will you? Well, good by!” and Katey turned 
back to offer him one of the little cold hands ; “ you 
must take care of yourself,” she added, primly. It 
was always her mother’s parting injunction, and 
seemed to the child particularly appropriate now. 

“ I’ll try to, certainly,” replied her friend, laughing, 
as the queer little figure ran off down the street, 
disappearing at last in the darkness. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


45 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 

winter, of which we recount such trivial 
^ events, was a memorable one in Boston. Tlie 
fugitive slave law had just been passed, shaking the 
city as well as the whole nation — to its founda- 
tions. A few fearless men dared to denounce the act. 
They were hissed and hooted at in the street ; they 
were threatened with fire and sword 5 they were 
assailed in their own houses, and barely escaped with 
their lives. From a refuge, Boston became a covert, 
where frightened creatures hid in trembling inse- 
curity. Then came the day when one was unearthed ; 
was seized, and chained, and marched down through 
the streets in the centre of a squad of police, headed 
and followed by the militia. 

Hot excitement, bursting out at times, smouldered 
tliroughout the length and breadth of the quiet city. 
Men and women looked on with flaming eyes and 
white lips. Even the children, who are but convex 
mirrors reflecting their elders in miniature, took it up. 
The line which always divides human interests and 
sympathies and warm hearts strengtliened into a 
chain in those days — broken a dozen years later; but 
0, the breaking ! 

Katey listened one day with clinched hands and 


46 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


bated breath to the story as told by a little curly- 
headed girl to a group of awe-struck children huddled 
together outside the gate at the close of school — of 
how her father was one of the Lancers called out to 
guard this human chattel on its way back to slavery ; 
how, like a man, he rebelled in his heart, and said lie 
would not go ; and how — like a man, too, alas ! — he 
arrayed himself at last in the gay uniform, walked out 
of the house in his clanking spurs, mounted his liorse, 
and rode away with the rest. Katey despised him 
in her heart at that moment. Perhaps, years after, 
looking back, — if she remembered, — she saw that 
more than one man hesitated and yielded at that time 
and later, not from cowardice, but from an honest 
query in his mind, in rendering up his dues, as to 
wliich were Cmsar’s and which God’s. We see through 
different eyes. 

He had to go,” said the child, closing her story. 

Why did he have to ? ” dared Katey. 

You don’t know anything about it, Katey Earle.” 
The child felt that a party had risen against her, 
though only one had spoken aloud. When you be- 
long to things you have to go.” 

A hush followed these convincing words. Katey’s 
flashing eyes, staring at the narrator, only burned with 
a fiercer fire. Td stop hdongingj' she said, pushing 
her way out of the group, and flying off down the 
street, the rain and the hot tears wet on her face. 

When she entered the house, she found, besides her 
mother and Delphine, a visitor who had never ven- 
tured into the parlor before. It was an old colored 
woman, known as Mammy,” who for many years had 
been a pensioner upon Madam Earle’s slender bounty ; 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


47 


for, though so reduced in circumstances, the family 
had not yet denied itself the luxury of charity. 

Mammy had been a slave, in her younger days, upon 
a Virginia plantation ; but that was at a time so far 
distant as to seem almost a dream. 

How old are you, Mammy ? Delphine had asked 
once. 

I donhio, missy was the reply. “ But my Jake 
wor ten year, when ole mar^sr say he^s gwine up ter 
town for t’ see Mar’sr Washington made president.” 

And did you go? ” 

0, no, chile ; ” and Mammy shook her head sadly. 
“ He gran’ folks went, wi’ de bosses an’ de kerriges. 
Wo on’y blacked de boots what went.” 

Whether she had ever purchased her freedom, or 
had ever, indeed, except by possession, won a lawful 
right to herself, no one knew. Certainly she seemed 
to feel no fear now, when others trembled. Her 
husband had died in slavery. The only son left to 
her from a large family had escaped to the North, and 
afterwards purchased his freedom and that of his 
family. But the bleak New England climate had 
swept away one after another, the father himself at 
last, leaving only one grandchild to Mammy. This 
girl had married a runaway slave from Georgia, an 
idle, improvident fellow, who, as years went on and a 
dusky family gathered about him, succeeded only in 
keeping a roof over their heads, — and a leaky one at 
that, — by putting forth what were to him superhuman 
exertions. He sawed wood occasionally — so occasion- 
ally that wood-sawing could hardly be termed his pro- 
fession ; he went upon errands, but at such a pace that 
the most hopeful heart despaired of their accomplish- 


48 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


ment ; and he cleared the sidewalks in winter before 
two or three houses, where he was borne with for the 
sake of poor old Mammy, upon whom really devolved 
the support of the helpless family. Accumulated mis- 
fortunes, which fall regardless of color, — among which 
lazy Ben reckoned his growing family and the “ scarce- 
ness of work, — had brought sickness to his wife — 
that fatal New England malady which seems the very 
grinding of the eternal mills, so slow it is, but so ex- 
ceeding sure in its result. 

In summer’s heat or winter’s cold, then, Mammy 
travelled from house to house among her patrons, sure 
of a welcome and something to keep the wolf from 
their shaky door, to fill the hungry mouths and cover 
the little dusky backs which were hung over the 
rickety fence in the summer sunshine or shivered 
about the broken stove in winter. She was a marked 
figure ; unusually tall, exceeding the stature of most 
men, and extremely aged though she was, straight as 
a grenadier. Her dress, neat as scant, was alwa3^s of 
some dingy black material, and sufficiently short to 
display the men’s boots in which her feet were en- 
cased, years though it was before the introduction of 
short dresses into polite society. Bound about her 
head was a plaid cotton handkerchief in the form of a 
turban, and perched upon the apex of this, a diminu- 
tive Quaker bonnet, tilted at an angle which no Quaker 
bonnet before or since ever attempted, but which was 
after a time exchanged in winter for a warm black 
hood, over the construction of which Katey’s fingers 
shed tears of blood. 

She dragged after her always a little wooden cart, 
such as children use in play. It had more than its 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


49 


due proportion of rattle, and thereby efiectually an- 
nounced her approacii. A certain regularity marked 
the time of her visits : which might have been com- 
puted, not directly, but as sure to follow other events 
• — •much, in fact, as one reckons the approach of 
Lent, only that in Mammy^s case Ben’s variations, 
rather than the moon’s, were to be taken into consider- 
ation ; and however it might have been at other 
houses, a cordial welcome and a cup of tea always 
awaited her at Madam Earle’s, with a chair close by 
the kitchen fire. 

She never begged. Why should she ? Her friends 
knew her sore need. But she received the parcel of 
clothes or food, or both, made up in anticipation of her 
coming, with fervent thanks and blessings — blessings 
upon the donor, but thanks only to the Lord, who held 
the fullness of the earth in his hand, and from whom 
came every gift. Indeed, his name was seldom absent 
from her lips, and it seemed almost as though her poor 
body had been forgotten here, while her spirit had 
taken up its abode already in heavenly habitations. 

Her manners were quaint, and belonged to a past 
generation. She rapped at the door, then entered 
without waiting for a response, advancing in a series 
of exceedingly low courtesies or dips executed with 
the utmost rigidity — partly, no doubt, from old- 
fashioned precision, and quite as much, perliaps, from 
the rheumatism, with which she was afflicted. This 
salutation, performed as it was with all the solemnity 
of a religious observance and in the extremely short 
gown, excited Helphine’s scarcely concealed smiles; 
but to Katey, who gazed upon it from a safe distance, 
it brought only delightful visions of that old Virginia 
4 


50 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


home of which Mammy spoke sometimes — of the gay 
gallants and beautiful ladies from whom these obsolete 

manners ” had been copied. And when_, upon going 
away, she worked herself out of the room by a series 
of backward courtesies still more surprising, it was 
like nothing less than a presentation at court ! Still, 
the grave doubt as to results which necessarily at- 
tend all backward movements, marred the full enjoy- 
ment of this scene, and the child always experienced 
a sensation of relief when the door closed at last upon 
the tall form. 

As Katey crept into the warm, bright room, dazzled 
by the light after the darkness outside, this strange 
figure rose from where it had been sitting upon the 
edge of one of the high-backed chairs, and dropped a 
couple of respectful courtesies in silence. 

“ This is bad, very bad,” Madam Earle was saying. 

You think, then, they are looking for him?” 

The little red hands stretched out before the fire 
fell into Katey’ s lap as she turned to listen. 

Yes, missis ; Ben seen his ole marsb- for shore dis 
mornin’ ; ” and Mammy polished with an old colored 
handkerchief one dusky cheek, upon which a tear had 
fallen. 

“ Where is Ben ? ” 

“ I don’no ; but he’ll be aroun’ home soon, I s’pect. 
Be Lor’ hab mercy on his ’flicted people ! ” she added, 
with a groan, swaying her body back and forth as 
though in pain. 

What is he going to do ? ” 

I don’no, missis, 1 don’no. 0 Lor’, mighty ter sabe, 
come down an’ help dis yere poor chile ! ” she mut- 
tered, still swaying upon her chair. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


51 


course he will try to hide/’ Madam Earle 
went on. 

Whardl he hide ? ’’ returned Mammy. “ De very 
groun’ gib up de dead, dese days.’’ 

Or slip away and escape to Canada,” pursued 
Madam Earle, thoughtfully. 

Mammy ceased to wipe her eyes. Pears like he 
might try ; ” then despair seized upon her. But ' ^ 
O Lor’ ! Phar’oh’s hos’ follow close bellin’.” 

Delphine, from her corner, had been listening breath- 
lessly to this conversation. She started up now, hot 
and angry. I wish I were a man I ” 

“ Hush, Delphine,” said her mother, in a low voice. 

But Mammy had caught the words. She paused in 
her wailing. Wha’ for you wish you wor a man for, 
missy?” Her figure stretched itself suddenly up- 
right ; the old black hood fell from her head ; she 
raised her long, skinny finger. “ Hark ! hear de swif 
feet dat run ; hear de bayin’ ob the houn’s ; hear de 
wailin’ ob de women ; hear de chil’n cry ; dat ar’s 
man’s work, missy.” 

‘‘ 0 mother, mother ! can’t you do anything ? ” sobbed 
Delphine, while Katey sat white and speechless, shiv- 
ering with excitement. 

Was it chance made the mother at that moment 
raise her eyes to the portrait hanging in its tarnished 
frame over the fireplace ? It was the portrait of her 
grandfather, who had been a mighty man in the colo- 
nies before they rebelled. Later, he sacrificed friends, 
property, and almost life itself, in the cause of his king. 
He went down to his grave, at last, poor, despised, 
covered witli obloquy, for having maintained, through 
evil as well as good report, his fidelity to the powers 


52 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


which he honestly believed should govern the land. 
There was something in the stern, straight-forward 
glance of the eyes from under the overhanging brows 
of the old Tory, something in the squareness of the 
lower part of the face, which had come down to and 
set their mark upon the softer countenance of the 
woman. She turned to Delphine. 

“ My dear,’’ she said, the law may often seem un- 
just ; it may entail sorrow and suffering upon the few : 
but it is for the many, and it must be maintained. 
We are forbidden to harbor or assist the fugitives; 
but we can lielp Mammy. Wo can do no more.” She 
drew Delphine down and kissed her. “ Now run 
away to bed, you and Katey. I must see what can bo 
done.” 

But this did not satisfy warm-hearted, impulsive 
Delphine. She caught Mammy’s two hands in her 
own as the tall figure rose from its seat. “ 0, if I only 
could do something ! ” she said. Shiftless Ben had 
suddenly become an object worthy of any sacrifice. 

Bress ye, bress ye, chile,” Mammy responded ; but 
her tears fell. Her heart had grown heavy under 
Madam Earle’s words. Katey stole out of the room 
with a shy little bow in response to Mammy’s dejected 
courtesy. She was pondering all this in her heart. 

There was a deep silence for a few moments after 
their departure, broken only by Mammy’s ejaculations 
under her breath. Then Madam Earle spoke. It 
must be very hard for you now that Ben can do 
nothing. What are you most in need of?” 

Delibberaiice,” groaned JMammy. Delibberance 
from dis yere wicked work ! ” 

Madam Earle made no response to this reply ; she 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


53 


only leaned tliouglitfully upon lier hand for a moment, 
then, bending forward, pulled the faded bell-cord hang- 
ing by the fireplace. 

The door opened, and Chloe’s dusky face appeared. 

Go to the attic, Chloe, and bring me that old camlet 
cloak you will find hanging there. Chloe disap- 
peared. ‘‘ You have not come to me for advice. 
Mammy,” Madam Earle went on, when the door had 
closed after the girl. You know, of course, that Ben 
must get away as soon as possible — this very night 
if he can.” 

I done come for nuffin, missis,” returned Mammy, 
who was entirely disheartened in her attempt to se- 
cure human aid. I done come for nuffin, aifi I 
’spects I’m not gwine to be dis’pinted. 0 Lor’ ! ” she 
murmured, soften de hard hearts ! ” 

Yes, that is it,” for Chloe had entered the room 
again, bearing the cloak on her arm. Now cut some 
slices of bread and the ham which was left from dinner 
as quickly as possible, and don’t be sparing of either. 
Wrap them in a stout paper, and bring them to me.” 

She crossed the room to the old mahogany escritoire 
in one corner, and, opening it, took out a roll of bank 
bills. It was by no means large, and she uttered a 
sigh as she turned it over, carefully selecting one. 
Then drawing a chair, she took up a pen, hesitating a 
moment before beginning to write, and smiling to her- 
self when the pen ran swiftly over the paper. “ There, 
Mammy,” she said, as she put the money into the old 
woman’s hands. I cannot give you more now, and 
the cloak is faded, I know, but it is warm, and, worn 
well about the face, would hide one’s countenance.” 

Bress ye, honey,” responded Mammy, but without 


54 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


emotion. It was not for money nor clothes she had 
come, and she failed to catch the significance of Madam 
Earle’s last words. Tank de Lor’ for his gifts,” she 
added, piously. 

“ And I have written a note,” Madam Earle went 
on, an odd smile upon her face. I want Ben to de- 
liver it for me, and to-night if he can.” Still she 
smiled strangely. “ Wait; lAvillread it.” She opened 
the paper upon Avhich she had just written a few lines, 
and read, — 

‘ Will Jason Miles please send the apples engaged 
of him without further delay ? 

And oblige 

Maesylvia Earle.’ 

You know Jason Miles?” 

But Mammy, holding the old cloak across her knees 
rocked slowly back and forth, shaking her head. What 
Avere Jason Miles and his apples to her at such a time 
as this ? She Avas disappointed and grieved. She had 
asked for bread, and received a stone. 

But still Madam Earle persisted: You must knoAv 
him. Mammy ; he is the good old Quaker out upon the 
Dorchester turnpike Avho is said to have helped so 
many slaves on to Canada.” 

Mammy fell in a grotesque heap at her feet as the 
light broke upon her at last. 0 Lor’,” she prayed, 
laughing and crying in a breath, ‘‘ how I’se doubted 
ye ! hoAv I’se said Avha’ for de chariot so long a cornin’ 
for? — Avhen it’s jes’ here, jes’ here dis minit. 0 Lor’ ! 
Look at dat now ; not let de lef han’ know Avliat do 
right han’ doin’ ; ” and she chuckled and laughed, 
upon her knees though she was. Bress dis ere 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


55 


chile, and make her to shine like de stars in glory. 0 
Lor’ — ” But Madam Earle checked her, as Chloe’s 
step was heard approaching. She assisted her to her 
feet, and, finally, with her own hands, let her out at the 
door, not daring to trnst her to Chloe, whose zeal in the 
cause would have more than equalled her discretion. 
Mammy continued to utter her prayer, however, and 
to call down blessings upon the family, as she passed 
through the hall, in a series of wonderful courtesies 
extending even to the front gate. 


56 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


t 


CHAPTER V. 

KATEY ACTS THE PART OP A DELIVERER. 

K ATEY awoke the next morning with a weight 
upon her spirits. Something had happened. 
What was it? Gradually, as the light struggled in 
between the heavy, half-closed shutters, the scene of 
the evening before returned to her mind. Where was 
Ben ? Had they found him ? Had they caught him ? 
She sprang out of bed, and began to dress hurriedly ; 
but soon her excitement and anxiety died away. She 
had reasoned it out in her odd little mind. Things 
happened, dreadful things ; but always to people ever 
so far off, whom one did not know. Nothing could 
have harmed Ben. He was a part of the prosaic 
every-day life which held no elements of tragedy. 
So all her fears faded away, and happier thoughts took 
their place. She would hasten down and try the new 
sled, about which she had as yet found no opportunity 
to speak to her mother. Jack had descended half an 
hour before, sounding a reveille upon her door as he 
passed. The winter sun had not yet dispelled the 
shadows which filled the dim old hall and dusky stair- 
way as she ran after him. Chloe’s ringing voice, with 
its odd intonation, came from some distant region in a 
wailing song : — 

“ I earn’ stay behin’, 0 Lor’ ; 

I earn’ stay behin’.” 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


57 


Katey had heard it often before, and the words fol- 
lowed the chant through her head as she tied on the 
little red hood and ran out at the door, shutting it 
heavily after her. Jack should be just outside. But 
she peered into the darkness in vain. Slowly the 
chill, heavy shadows were lifting as she went on up 
the street. She turned the corner, and the grim form 
of the old brick church rose like a huge misshapen 
figure before her, every angle and recess filled with 
mysterious darkness. Suddenly, close down at its base, 
where the sharp walls jutted out, the shadows ap- 
peared to move — to gather themselves into a figure. 
Katey stood still and gazed at it fearfully. The 
houses the length of the street were silent and dark, 
the street lamps still burned, but with a faint yellow 
light. Away in the distance the old city awoke, and 
turned itself with a sleepy sigh. But here no sound 
broke the stillness, not even a passing foot awoke the 
echoes. While she stared, undecided whether to fly 
past and go on in pursuit of J ack, or retrace her steps, 
a crouching figure shambled out of the darkness, and 
approached her. It was wrapped in an old cloak, and 
turned its head from side to side, as if to listen, as it 
drew near. 

“ 0 Lor’, Missy Kate, dat you ? ” 

Why, Ben I ” ejaculated Katey, her heart giving 
a great leap, and almost escaping from her parted lips. 
8o it was true, alter all, and the dreadful things wliich 
happened to people a long way oft*, had for once really 
come near. 

Yes, missy ; dat me, for shore,” Ben replied, in a 
tone which seemed to imply that he wished it had 
been almost any one else at this moment. 


58 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“ 0, why don’t you run, then,” cried Katey, all her 
fears awakened for the sorry figure before her. 

“ Whar’ ever’ll I run to, missy, now, in de day- 
light?” whined Ben. And even as he spoke the 
darkness seemed to vanish from around them. Katey 
could distinguish forms far down the street, and, to 
her terror, steps drew near. “ 0 Lor’, Missy Kate ! 
what’ll I do ? Don’ le’ um gi’ me ; ” and shaking with 
terror, Ben retreated to his hiding-place again. The 
steps drew near and passed by. It was only some 
laborer, with shovel and pick over his shoulder, who 
did not heed the child with a white, frightened face, 
standing, with skirts outspread, in an odd, fantastic 
attitude, before the angle of the wall. 

But why didn’t you go when it was dark ? ” 
Katey asked, hurriedly, when she dared breathe 
again. 

‘‘ ’Cos I didn’t know nuflSn’ ’bout de note, nor de 
perwisions nor nufiin’, till mos’ mornin’, when I shied 
roun’ to de house. ’Twor too late den, ye know.” 
In his usual luckless, shiftless way he had let the 
golden moment slip by. 

What note ? ” His words were a maze to Katey. 

Why, de note yer Maum Earle gib Mammy las’ 
night.” 

Truthfulness had never been one of Ben’s char- 
acteristics, and the child disbelieved the whole story. 
Her mother had sent him no note, she was sure, and 
something like contempt arose in her mind, almost 
overcoming the pity she had felt for him. 

I wor gwine down dar now to tell yer maum.” 

0, but, Ben, she won’t help you.” Katey forgot 
everything again in his danger. You must go home ; 
don’t stay here. See how light it is now.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


59 


I earn’ go home, missy ; ” and Ben leaned against 
the iron railing with a kind of dull resolution. '' Ole 
marsh down dere dis minute, mos’ like ; an’ de pleece- 
men ! Golly ! Missy Kate, de pleecemen jus’ standin’ 
round dat ar street, tree deep, I s’pose.” Frightened 
as he was, Ben could not let the opportunity to dwell 
upon his suddenly acquired value pass unnoticed. 

The faint grayness which still lingered in the at- 
mosphere was fast melting away. Already the light 
had pierced Ben’s corner, revealing a figure the 
strangeness of which would attract the attention of 
the first passer. Something must be done, and at 
once. To leave Ben to accomplish his own deliver- 
ance did not occur to the child. Certain schemes of 
the night before suggested themselves to her mind. 

Come home with me,” she said ; “ I’ll hide you. 
Only when it is dark again you must go away.” 

Yes, missy,” Ben replied, meekly. He had not the 
faintest conception of what the child proposed to do ; 
nor did it occur to him to inquire. It was enough 
that some one had assumed the responsibility of caring 
for him. 

Katey started off down the street upon a run, Ben 
shuffling more slowly after her. One ambitious milk- 
wagon awoke the echoes of the street as she neared 
the great gate. Dacre Home lounged down the steps 
over the way, touching his cap half-mockingly as the 
child darted into the yard, and waited breathlessly for 
Ben to come up. She glanced fearfully towards the 
parlor windows ; but the curtains were stiU drawn. 
She had not realized how her flying feet had out- 
stripped Ben’s slower movements. Would he never 
come ? And now, while she waited, the momentary 


60 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


excitement under which she had offered to assist him 
died away, and her heart grew heavy with forebod- 
ings. She knew full well the penalty for harboring 
a fugitive. The children playing in the street had 
talked of it ; a thousand dollars fine, and imprison- 
ment for not less than a year. A thousand dollars ! 
She could never hope to pay that ; so she would suffer 
longer in prison, doubtless ; and a strange chill crept 
over her with the thought. Down upon a narrow, 
crooked street, not far away, which the children gained 
by darting through a dark alley of fearful repute, stood 
an old jail, gray and grim — a terror and a fascination. 
Katey shuddered at the recollection of the grated 
windows. Clinging to those dreadful bars, should 
she stare out upon the street some day? For a mo- 
ment she wavered. Ben had crept in after her, iv; d 
stood waiting, shrinking back against the high, bla 
fence. She had weighed him with the instinct of 
childhood, and found him wanting. Only this moment 
she believed he had deceived her, and yet she could 
not turn him away. Wait a minute,” she said, 
swallowing a little sobbing sigh with which she put 
down the last of the temptations Avhich rose within 
her to leave Ben to his fate. She stole softly up the 
high steps, and opened the heavy door carefully, then 
paused to listen. The house was still, save for 
Chloe’s wild chant. The song had changed : — 

“ He bore our sins upon de tree.” 

The voice rose and died away ; but it had awakened 
an echo in the child’s heart. The significance of the 
words did not enter her head, but the little heart was 
lightened as she stepped back and beckoned to Ben. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


61 


Not a word did she speak as he removed his shoes, 
and, taking them in his hand, followed her noiselessly 
into the hall, and up the wide stairs to the square 
landing where they ended. Here Avas a high window, 
Avith the wide, old-fashioned AvindoAv-seat half screened 
by heavy, faded hangings, and on either side doors, 
closed now, one of Avhich Katey passed breatlilessly, 
and, turning around the stair-rail, pushed open a 
narroAver door, opening into a small, dark hall. There 
was scarcely light enough here to reveal the winding, 
almost upright stairs leading to the attic rooms. Only 
one of these Avas furnished noAv — that which the old 
actress had rented for a time. And though the high- 
posted bedstead, Avith its floAvered chintz curtains, still 
remained, Avith the brass-mounted chest of draAvers and 
queer old spider-legged dressing-table, the room had 
been long since given over to the dust and mystery 
of disuse. Katey ran up the stairs and opened the 
door Avith a certain sense of aAve, treading lightly, 
as though fearful of arousing the spirit of the place ; 
but Ben, conscious only of his happy escape, followed 
Avith assurance, chuckling to himself and cracking his 
finger-joints as he peeped betAveen the red curtains, 
and convinced himself that the room had been long 
unoccupied. “ Gorry, Missy Kate,’’ he ejaculated, 
performing a kind of noiseless plantation dance about 
the child ; ole mars’r’ll nebber fine Ben in dis yere 
place.” 

“ Wait a minute,” Katey replied. She led the way 
to the farther side of the bed, where was a low door 
in tlie partition, so Ioav that even a child could not pass 
through Avitliout stooping. Ben dropped upon his 
knees and folloAved her as she disappeared, finding 


62 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


himself in an unfinished garret, to which this low 
door seemed to be the only entrance. The place was 
full of great beams and rafters, and dim with shadows. 
But for the light through the open doorway and the 
rays of the morning sun struggling with the cobwebs 
at the little dust-begrimed window at one end, utter 
darkness would have reigned. A few discarded gar- 
ments hung from hooks in the rafters, and a bundle of 
herbs under the eaves mingled its odors with the 
close, musty air of the place. 

“ Isn’t it nice ? ” said Katey from a corner, her head 
in a cobweb. 

“ Gorry ! ” was Ben’s sole response. He was quite 
overcome by this new development of resources. 

Now I must go down,” said Katey. It is break- 
fast time. I’ll have to shut the door and push the bed 
up before it.” 

“ 0 Lor’, missy, don’ do dat ar,” gasped Ben, all 
his fears aroused by the thought of being thus en- 
trapped. 

“ I must,” Katey replied. Then no one can see 
the door ; but I’ll come and let you out to-night when 
it is dark.” 

‘‘ But what if de pleecemen come nosin’ roun’ ? ” 
Terrors were crowding thick upon Ben now. Ye’d 
say ye didn’t know nuffin’ bout dis nigger dese tree 
year ; wouldn’ ye ? ” he pleaded. 

But I do know,” Katey answered with eyes 
opened wide. 

0 Lor’, Missy Kate ! are you gwine to tell o’ pore 
Ben ? ” He fell on his knees and clutched at her gown. 

‘‘ Why, of course I’m not going to tell ! ” and 
Katey’s astonishment increased still more. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


63 


“ But what if dey come sudden like ? What if dey 
s’prise ye ? ’’ he asked, doubtfully. 

A vision of the Leverett Street Jail, of the Black 
Maria, rose before her ; but she could not go back now. 

I never shall tell,” she repeated. 

“ But s’pose dey ask ye all manner o’ cur’us ques- 
tions to ketch ye ? Swar, Missy Kate, say, ‘ By Goi 
A’mighty I nebber tell nobody ’bout dis nigger.’ ” 

But Katey drew back horrified at the proposition. 

“ I can’t do that,” she said, stepping through the 
little doorway. Then she stooped so that the earnest 
face, with its great dark eyes and its cloud of heavy 
hair, were framed for a moment. 

Don’t be afraid,” she said ; '' I never shall tell ; ” 
and then she closed the door. 

It was a more difficult matter to move the heavy 
bed. One or two attempts were vain; but finally 
putting forth all her strength, it started and rolled 
heavily over the floor, and was pushed against the 
door. She viewed it on every side. The entrance to 
Ben’s retreat was quite hidden ; and now she ran as 
softly and quickly as possible down the stairs. 

The family were already seated at the breakfast 
table, and Chloe was bringing in the cofiee-urn when 
she appeared. 

'' Pow’ful shower comin, missis,” said Chloe, setting 
down the urn. I hear de funder roll awful jus’ now.” 

“Thunder,” shouted Jack, “in winter, and hardly 
a cloud in the sky ! ” 

“ Don’ care, Massa Jack,” continued Chloe, who, 
having been long in the family, felt privileged to ex- 
press her mind when and where she chose. “ I hear 
it roll and rumble roun’ jus’ now.” 


64 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Katey hid her flaming cheeks in her plate ; but no 
one heeded her, and Chloe left the room, followed by 
Jack’s mocking laugh. 

I did hear something,” said Madam Earle, checking 
him. ‘‘ It must have been rats, I think.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


65 


CHAPTER VI. 

ALMOST A MARTYR. 

C HLOE’S prediction proved true in so far that a 
drizzling rain set in towards night, bringing the 
winter twilight earlier than usual. All day Katey had 
been tormented by fears in regard to Ben. What if 
her mother should chance to make one of her rare visits 
to the attic rooms, and Ben, thinking it herself, should 
call out ? What if the “ pleecemen,^^ of whom he 
stood in such terror, should track him to the house in 
her absence ? If she were only there she might per- 
haps prevent the discovery of his hiding-place, or warn 
him to escape. 

At noon she ran all the way home, and as soon as 
she found an opportunity flew to the top of the house. 
Everything was undisturbed, however ; the bed still 
occupied the place before the little door, and, leaning 
her head against the partition, no sound came from 
Ben’s retreat. Perhaps he slept after his wakeful, 
wandering night ; and somewhat relieved of her anx- 
iety, the child crept noiselessly down again. 

At night, less impatient, but more heavy-hearted un- 
der her weight of care, she plodded home in the rain, 
full of forebodings as to Ben’s exit from the house. 
How could she ever accomplish it ? She carried her 
drenched cloak to the kitchen, and lingered over the 
5 


66 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


fire, warming her chilled fingers, while Chloe moved 
heavily back and forth, jmeparing the tea. 0, if she 
dared tell ! It would be so easy for Chloe to pusli the 
bed away, pilot Ben down the kitchen stairs, and let 
him out at the back gate ! As the wet, cheerless night 
settled in, and the time drew near when she must act, 
all her courage died away. The burden she had taken 
up seemed greater than she could bear. Chloe paused 
before the little drooping figure cowering over the fire. 

What ails ye, honey? Ye don’t seem peart like as 
common.” 

Katey started up at that. Did her face tell her se- 
cret ? 

0, nothing,” she answered, confusedly, as she left 
the room. 

No, she could not tell Chloe, who would cry out and 
startle the family, most likely ; and what might not her 
mother believe it her duty to do with Ben ! A thought 
of Jack, her refuge in all times of trouble, of Jack 
fruitful in expedients, did cross her mind as she en- 
tered the parlor, where the heavy curtains were already 
drawn, and a soft, pleasant light and warmth filled the 
room. Her mother sat before the escritoire, writing. 
Neither Delphine nor Jack was there. But it did not 
matter ; she could not confide her secret to Jack, even. 
0, to think of J ack borne away in the Black Maria ! — 
the dreadful jail wagon which rattled about the streets 
to tile intense horror of the children, who huddled close 
to the houses, shrinking, yet staring, as it passed. 
They might perhaps take her, but not Jack ! 

She stood just within the door, hesitating, held back 
by her fears, yet knowing that she must go now, at this 
moment, and release her prisoner. She had worked 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


67 


herself into so excited and feverish a state that she 
conld hardly keep from crying out. She was afraid 
of the darkness through which she must pass to reach 
him ; her little arms were weak and trembling : could 
she ever make the heavy bed roll back? She must 
ask Chloe for a light. She shivered as she turned 
again to the kitchen, thinking of the unused, ghostly 
rooms above, the dark passage, and the narrow, winding 
stairs which she must mount alone. At that moment 
a heavy, resounding rap from the knocker upon the 
outer door echoed through the house. Another fol- 
lowed, as Chloe, never very swift in her movements, 
lingered before answering the summons. 

What is that ? ’’ There was something so peremp- 
tory in the call that Madam Earle laid down her pen 
and rose from her chair, behind which Katey fled in- 
stinctively. A loud, coarse voice was heard in excited 
colloquy with Chloe ; then the parlor door was flung 
open, and the girl appeared, the hue of her dusky 
cheeks deepened, her head thrown back, and her eyes 
a blaze of light. She rested her hands upon her hips 
as she stood in the doorway, and looked back and forth 
from an invisible figure in the hall to her mistress. 

Look a he-ah, missis,’’ she said in an excited tone ; 
“ dis ’ere man say he come for Ben ! I tell him we 
don’no nuffin’ ’bout dat ar lazy nigger.” 

Madam Earle stepped forward as a short, stout figure, 
surmounted by a coarse, swarthy face, appeared at the 
girl’s elbow. ‘‘ Chloe,” she said, as the man entered 
the room, “ hand a chair to the gentleman.” 

’Clar’ to goodness, missis, I earn’ han’ no cha’rs to 
such trash,” responded Chloe, mutinous for the first 
time in a long and faithful servitude. She tossed her 


68 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


head with a contemptuous snort, pressing her hands 
like a vice upon her sides. 

Madam Earle set out a chair without speaking. 

“ Thankee, ma’am ; but I reckon I’ll stand whar I 
can see the door,” replied the man, with an ugly leer. 

To what ixm I indebted for this visit ? ” asked 
Madam Earle, coldly. But even before she spoke he 
had begun a fumbling search in various pockets. He 
produced now a folded paper, which he tapped with a 
very dirty forefinger. 

I’ve got an officer out yere, ma’am,” he said, and 
tliis is a ’ficial document, a warrant, in fact, for the 
apprehension of a nigger calling himself Ben, and said 
to be in this house at this moment.” 

Ain’t no such nigger he’ah,” broke in Chloe, de- 
fiantly. 

Sof’ly, gal, sof’ly,” returned the man. Your turn 
next, perhaps ; ” and again he winked, as though a 
one-sided spasm contracted his face. He was seen 
coming into the yard early this morning,” he ex- 
plained, as he replaced the paper carefully in his 
breast pocket. 

There was a faint sound, as of an exclamation sup- 
pressed, from the corner where Katey was hidden, but 
no one noticed it. Madam Earle, with a pale but com- 
posed face, stood quietly regarding the man, her hands 
resting upon the back of the chair she had offered him. 
Could it be true? she thought. Could Chloe have 
taken him in? But no; she herself had sent him in 
another direction the night before. He must be miles 
away on his northward journey by this time. 

'' I swar to goodness,” added Chloe, ‘‘ dat ar boy ain’t 
been yere dese tree weeks. Some mi’s lied to ye.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


69 


Sof’ly, sof ’ly/’ said the man. “ ’Pears to me you 
look amazin’ like a gal that run away from Columbus 
County ten year or so ago. I’ve got it writ down some- 
where. But one at a time.” 

“ I’s born free. Ye earn’ touch me,” returned 
Chloe, indignantly; but she shrank back and was 
silent, nevertheless, as the intruder stepped to the door 
and called to a couple of policemen waiting outside. 

One of you stand here and look right sharp while 
the other goes through the house with me. You’re 
sure Bill is at the back gate ? ” 

Madam Earle expostulated. This certainly is un- 
necessary. I give you my word, my oath if you re- 
quire it, that Ben is not in the house nor upon the 
premises.” 

The man only regarded her with an insulting smile 
of incredulity. Seeiii’s believing, ma’am. You 
might be mistaken, you know ; ” and again that awful 
facial contortion, intended for a wink. Come, gal,” 
— to Chloe, as he produced a dark lantern, — “ show us 
about the house.” 

Chloe looked towards her mistress, but did not move. 

Either you must go or I,” Madam Earle said to her, 
I suppose we are obliged to submit to this.” 

You’re right, ma’am,” returned the man, whose 
spirits seemed to rise each moment. ‘‘ And amazin’ 
wise, too. There’s nothin’ like resignation, I say. 
I’ve been a local preacher, myself, for a dozen years or 
so, and if there’s any one doctrine above another I’ve 
felt called upon to expound, it’s that of Christian resig- 
nation. When ye can’t hold out nohow, sez I, give in. 
That’s my idea of it. Now, ma’am,” — and he rubbed 
his hands briskly, — what’s below this floor ? ” 


70 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Only the unused kitchens and cellars.’^ 

That’s it. We’ll take a look at ’em. Step lively, 
gal.” And Chloe led the way from the room. Madam 
Earle and Katey were left alone. Now was Katey’s 
time. Trembling and faint she crept into the hall. 
The officer on guard at the open door had turned his 
back to the house, and stood whistling softly to him- 
self as she slipped out and mounted the stairs, her feet 
heavy as though shod with iron. But the upper hall 
once gained, sure that no eye could see her, she flew 
to the attic chamber, falling against the bed in her 
haste and in the bewildering darkness, which held for 
the moment no terrors, since other and greater had 
seized her. Creeping under the chintz valance, she 
felt with her hands for the low door ; then, putting her 
lips to the crack, she called, in a shrill whisper, Ben ! 
Ben ! ” 

There was no response. 

0, Ben ! ” she called again, striking her knuckles 
fearfully upon the panel. Doors were being opened 
and shut below, she fancied, and to her excited imagi- 
nation there was even a step upon the stairs. 

Yah, Missy Kate,” a cautious voice responded now. 
There was a sound as of some one rising stumbling- 
ly, and moving towards her. “ I’s ready. Ope de 
door.” 

0, Ben,” — and there were terror and agony in the 
whisper, — “ they’ve come ! ” 

Who come ? ” Katey could hear his loud breath- ^ 
ing close to her face. 

The men, for you ! ” 

‘‘ Gror A’miglity ! le’ me out, le’ me out o’ dis yere, 
quick.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


71 


I can’t. They’d hear the bed roll. They’re down 
stairs now. 0, Ben, keep still ; they’re coming up ; ” 
and, too terrified to escape, the child clutched the bed 
hangings and hid her face. 

It was a false alarm, however. She could presently 
hear voices in the rooms below, but no one mounted 
the stairs. She pressed her little pale face once more 
close to the crack. Ben,” she whispered, don’t bo 
afraid ! I — never — shall — tell ! ” Then she crept 
from under the bed, felt her way out of the room and 
down the stairs. 

She had 'reached the little door giving entrance to 
the upper front hall, when it was suddenly flung open 
in her face ; a dazzling light fell upon her, a hand 
grasped her arm and pulled her forward, while a harsh 
voice exclaimed, Ha ! what’s this? What ye doing 
up yere ? Ain’t this the little gal I see down stairs ? 
Speak up, now, what ye doing up yere ? ” 

The little dark figure, with its frightened face, 
rested motionless in the hands of its captors. Not a 
word fell from the close- shut mouth. 

De chile done scart to def,” said Chloe. “ Bun 
down to your maum, honey.” 

You speak when you’re spoken to ; ” and the man 
pushed Chloe aside roughly. Come, child, whar’ve 
they hid this nigger ? ” 

The awful moment had come. But the vision of the 
jail, of the Black Maria, of Ben in his retreat pleading 
for her silence, all faded away. She was conscious 
only of a strange whirr in her ears, as, with the great 
dark eyes fixed upon his, she stared at her inquisitor, 
fascinated, but speechless. 

His heavy hand fell upon her shoulder. Chloe sprang 
forward. ‘‘ Don’ ye dar’ touch dat chile ! ” 


72 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


The girl is right,” said the officer, coming up. 
“ You must not lay your hands upon the child.” 

Come along, then,” said the man, preparing to 
mount the narrow stairs. “She came down here.” 
Katey, daring neither to follow nor to return to her 
mother in this moment of suspense, too frightened, in- 
deed, to move from where they had left her, heard a 
sharply- uttered expletive as some one tripped over 
the last step, then, “Hark! What’s that?” from the 
rough voice. 

“ Dat’s de rats, gemmen,” Chloe explained. “ Better 
look up do chimley,” she suggested, contemptuously, 
when the light had been thrown into every corner of 
the empty rooms, revealing only long-fallen dust and 
festooning cobwebs. 

They entered the chamber through which the child 
and Ben had passed, making an unavailing search 
here as elsewhere. Chloe was too much engrossed to 
notice the change in the position of the bed. “ Be you 
gemmen gwine up yere ? ” she asked, standing under 
the skylight, to which a short flight of stairs led. “ Dat 
nigger hangin’ by his eyelids from de roof mos’ like,” 
she added, with a laugh, saucy and confident, now 
that the search was so nearly concluded. The man, 
however, paid no attention to the words. He was 
walking back and forth, measuring the ceiling and 
partition with his eye. Suddenly he laid his hand 
upon the wall behind which Ben was hidden. “ What’s 
in here ? ” he questioned, suspiciously ; “ the front room 
don’t come back to this.” 

Chloe, who began to feel impatient over his unwill- 
ingness to be convinced, turned again to the front 
chamber with an angry toss of the head. “ Who’s 



A Hand guasped her Arm and peeled her forward. Page 71 






KATHERINE EARLE. 


73 


been yere ? she muttered below her breath, noticing 
for the first time that the bed had been moved. Her 
mistress, most likely. She touched it with her strong 
hand, and it rolled back with a heavy, rumbling sound, 
revealing the door. 

Ha ! ” exclaimed the man ; “ now, gal, open the 
door, and go in first with the light. Well follow. This 
begins to look like it.’’ 

Look jus’ like it,” returned Chloe, opening it with- 
out the least hesitation ; “ as if de nigger done got iq 
yere, shet de door, and pull up de bed ! ” 

The little door fiew back against the partition ; the 
light, scattering the darkness within, revealed — what ? 
Only dust and cobwebs, and the discarded garments 
hanging from the rafters ; nothing more. Chloe waved 
her lantern so that the glare should illumine every 
corner. But why did her eyes almost start from their 
sockets, while her teeth fairly chattered in her head ? 
As she stooped to pick up a garment which had appar- 
ently fiillen from its nail, she recognized in it the old 
camlet cloak which she had carried to the parlor the 
night before, and which she had learned afterwards 
from Mammy had been given to Ben. She could not 
be mistaken ; it was the same, she knew. How came 
it there ? Where was Ben ? She glanced about fear- 
fully, half expecting to see the shambling form emer- 
ging from the shadows. The men were examining the 
window. It was fastened upon the inside. Her pres- 
ence of mind did not desert her. She shook out the 
cloak carelessly, and hung it up with the rest, then led 
the way in silence to the outer chamber. It was with 
a quaking spirit that she now saw the men prepare 
to explore the roof. I’ll ope de window,” she said. 


74 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


officiously, mounting the stairs with a great shuffling 
and stumbling noise, and raising the skylight only 
after having let it fall once with a warning clatter. 
But her fears were vain ; the men returned alone, the 
jubilant spirits of the principal character in the search 
seeming to have deserted him as he retraced his steps 
slowly, pausing occasionally to ponder, and question, 
and explore some hidden corner on his way to the 
parlor, where by this time Delphine and Jack had 
joined their mother. In a few moments the door 
closed after their unwelcome visitors, and the family 
was left to itself again. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


75 


CHAPTER VII. 

WHERE IS BEN? 

H ardly had the gate swung to with a dull echo 
when Chloe rushed into the parlor ; upon her 
countenance was that peculiar ashen hue which in the 
dusky race betokens fright or sudden strong emotion. 
Her eyes appeared to have become detached^ and to 
roll strangely in her head. 

‘‘ 0 Lor’, Missis, whar’s dat ar Ben ? ” 

Madam Earle stared at the girl as though her senses 
had deserted her. What do you mean, Chloe ? ” 
You shore he’s no in de house?” pursued the girl, 
who for the moment almost doubted her mistress. No 
one else could have hidden him. 

Certainly not,” Madam Earle replied ; but her voice 
and manner were agitated. Could Chloe have learned 
the dangerous secret of how she had tried to aid Ben ? 
But Chloe was too much engrossed with the thought 
of her discovery to be thoroughly suspicious. She 
desired only to impart it. “ Wha’ you tink I foun’ up 
in de back attic ? ” she went on, breathlessly. Then 
she lowered her voice to an awful whisper as Jack 
and Delphine drew near : Dat ar camlip cloak you 
done gif Mammy las’ night ! ” 

You were mistaken,” Madam Earle said, quickly ; 
“ you were excited, and so took something else for that. 


76 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


It could not be/' she added, decidedly. The camlet 
cloak by this time must be well on its way to Canada, 
she thought. 

For reply, Chloe pulled something triumphantly 
from her pocket. It was a piece of brown wrapping- 
paper holding the remains of a sandwich. “ I see dat 
ar when I stoop to pick up de cloak, and I done scrab- 
ble it in yere ; " and the paper vanished into her 
pocket again. 

What did it mean? A word of explanation from 
their mother was necessary for Delphine and Jack to 
comprehend the beginning of the mystery. Mammy 
was in great trouble," she said ; “ I gave her the old 
camlet cloak, some sandwiches, and some money." She 
paused ; not that she feared to confess the whole lest 
her children should inform against her ; but a little 
flush warmed her pale face as she remembered the 
lesson she had impressed upon Delphine and Katey in 
regard to supporting the law. Then she went on 
quite humbly, “ I knew, when I gave them to her, that 
she would use them all for Ben." 

Delphine's arm crept about her mother's neck. “ I'm 
so glad you have told us ! " she whispered ; “ for I 
thought you were hard and cruel to her. See how 
unjust I have been ! " Then Delphine's thoughts re- 
turned to Chloe's story. “ But what does it mean ? " 
she added, in the same breath. 

Put the chain across the door," said Madam Earle ; 
“ and, Chloe, see that all the doors and windows are 
fastened. We must look into this. Where is Katey?" 

No one knew. No one remembered to have seen 
her. Chloe was appealed to. She recalled the in- 
cident upon the stairs. A horrible suspicion seized 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


77 


Delphine. Wild stories of kidnapping floated about 
in these days, and poor little Katey was not of the 
fairest skin; might not — Delphine flew into the hall, 
calling her name aloud ; Jack darted up the stairs ; 
Madam Earle and Chloe followed hurriedly, bearing 
lights. As they attempted to open tlie door of the 
room which Delphine and Katey occupied together, 
something resisted their efforts. It was Jack who 
crowded through the narrow space, and found a little 
dark heap lying against the door — who gathered the 
child up in his arms, and bore her, witli awkward ten- 
derness, down the stairs, depositing her upon the sofa 
in the parlor at last. 

0, Jack ! she cried, throwing her arms around his 
neck, when, with a little sobbing sigh, the breath re- 
turned to the white lips, and the eyes opened to find 
Jack’s dear face bent over her. Don’t let them take 
me ! don’t let them take me ! 0, I can’t go ! ” and in 

her terror her arms tightened about Iiis neck. 

Lord a massy,” wailed Chloe, de chile cl’ar gone 
crazy.” 

But Madam Earle began to faintly surmise the truth. 
“ No one can take you, dear,” she said ; and they did 
not find Ben.” 

Jack, who had been growing very red in the face 
under Katey’s convulsive embrace, was suddenly re- 
leased. But I heard the bed roll back ; then I tried 
to hide,” she added. 

“ He done gone, missy,” said Chloe ; and seeing that 
the child still stared as though she did not compre- 
hend, she proceeded to elaborate her assertion. “ Run, 
streaked it, clar’d out,” she added, convincingly. 

Gone I ” and Katey sat upright. How could 


78 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


he get out? I pushed the bed up against the 
door I ” 

Such confusion of exclamations, and kisses, and tears 
as this simple sentence evolved ! “ 0, you bressed 

chile ! cried Chloe, falling down before her, and 
clasping her knees. 

Little by little the story was told, Katey’s head 
lying back in her mother’s arms, Delphine holding her 
feet, and Jack making awkward dabs at her head oc- 
casionally, under the impression that he was stroking 
her hair. 

Even her hesitation and fears before taking Ben 
into the house she did not hide. “ You see,” she said, 
apologetically, looking gravely from one to another of 
the little group, I thought you might feel bad if they 
found it out, and took me away in the Black Maria.” 

Here Jack, whose countenance had been working 
in a fearful and wonderful manner while he stared 
fixedly at the wall before him, uttered a sound be- 
tween a snort and a groan, and bolted from the room. 
Delphine embraced the little worn shoes. You are 
a born heroine, dear,” she said. But Madam Earle 
shook her head as she stroked the dark cheek lying 
against her arm. “ Child, what will you do next ! ” 
she said. 

Now, missis, don’ you scole dat pore chile,” in- 
terposed Chloe. 

And no one scolded Katey. 

When the excitement and surprise were over, they 
returned, one and all, to the first question : where was 
Ben ? ‘‘I will go up to the attic, and see for myself,’.’ 

Madam Earle said. But no one would be left behind. 
Even Katey followed the others, half carried in Chloe’ s 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


79 


strong arms. Could Ben, by any possibility, be lurk- 
ing still in the house ? Katey called liis name softly 
as they went on, but there was no response. The bed 
was pushed back from before the low door in the front 
attic ; the door itself stood open, as Chloe had left it. 

Ben ! ” called the child ; but no one replied, and one 
after another they passed through the narrow open- 
ing, Chloe holding the lamp high above her head to 
light the darkness. The place was empty of human 
presence save themselves. But Chloe had spoken the 
truth ; the old camlet cloak was suspended from the 
nail where she had hung it. 

How had Ben escaped ? Through the window,” 
Delphine suggested. But it was fastened by a nail 
upon the inside. 

I know ! ” exclaimed Jack ; “ I had forgotten all 
about it.” He parted the ghostly garments hanging 
from the beams, and pointed to a trap-door fitted so 
nicely as to bo quite concealed except upon close in- 
spection, and so near to the floor in the slope of the 
roof as to be easily gained. 

And the oddest part of it is,” he went on, “ that 
when it is shut you would never notice it from the 
outside.” 

Ben must have discovered it during the day, 
and escaped when Katey warned him ; but where ? ” 
queried Madam Earle, letting the garments fall back 
into their place again. 

“ 0, I’ve been out there,” Jack replied. You can 
creep along to the chimney, and then slide down to 
the shed roof ; and from there it is nothing to drop to 
the fence, and so to the street.” 

Then they haven’t found him ? ” asked Katey, 
doubtingly : she was not yet convinced. 


80 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“ Found him ? No, indeed. Ben is safe enough,” 
returned Jack in a tone of such entire conviction that 
Katey’s heart was eased of its burden. 

All the next day she lay upon the sofa in the parlor, 
prostrate under the weakness and languor which fol- 
lowed her unnatural excitement. But no queen upon 
a throne ever received such homage. Delphine wrote 
her French exercises close by her pillow ; J ack, upon 
his knees before her, poured out his whole store of 
treasures — stringless tops, bats for lost balls, a col- 
lection too numerous for mention — and, last of all, a 
wonderful ship, of his own construction, which was 
like no craft ever afloat. Even Chloe expended all 
her skill in the building of a surprising tart, which 
was brought in upon an old-fashioned china plate, and 
presented with as much ceremony as though it had 
been the freedom of a city. And after a time Mammy 
appeared, — poor Mammy, who was still in doubt as to 
Ben’s fate, — in a series of dips which wore nothing 
less than heavy gymnastics, making of her approach, 
through the periodical inflation of her scant petticoats, 
a succession of “ cheese-cakes ” marvellous to witness. 
She fairly submerged Katcy in watery blessings and 
benedictions. Bis yere chile,” she said at last, sol- 
emnly, is ’lected fo’ some mighty porpoise. Do Lor 
bress ye, honey ! De Lor will bress ye,” she added, 
raising her head and gazing away beyond Katcy, with 
the far-seeing eyes of prophecy. 

It was during Mammy’s visit that Katcy learned of 
Ben’s errand to the old Quaker. And now, with some- 
thing tangible before her, something really to wait for 
and expect, her excitement and anxiety increased 
every moment. As the day wore on, the pale cheeks 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


81 


became so flushed, the dark eyes so unnaturally bright, 
that Madam Earle’s fears were aroused. “ Dear child, 
try to forget it all,” she said, turning the hot pillow ; 
“ we shall hear something by morning, perhaps ; but 
close your eyes now, and go to sleep.” 

“ Yes, ma’am,” Katey replied, obediently ; but in a 
moment the great shining eyes were following her 
mother about the room. They open themselves,” 
Katey explained, humbly. Slowly the long day wore 
away ; the wind wailing drearily in tlie chimney, the 
rain falling steadily against the window-pane. 

The heavy curtains were drawn at last, shutting out 
the trickling drops, and the high, bare brick wall over 
the way. The tire brightened in the darkness, the 
wailing wind was stilled, and Katey fell into a troubled 
sleep, from which she was aroused by a startling peal 
upon the knocker. Even Madam Earle felt her heart 
cease to beat for a moment, as she held clasped tight 
in her arms the form of the child who had sprung up 
with a cry. The fire-light shone upon Chloe’s startled 
face thrust into the room. Shall 1 ope de door, 
missis ? ” she asked, in a hoarse whisper, What ef 
dat ar kidnap done come agin ? ” 

“ Certainly you must open the door ; but bring a 
light first.” 

There was a moment of suspense as Chloe’s shuf- 
fling step moved through the hall. Tliey heard the 
cautious opening of the heavy door, then the fall of 
the clanking c..; ... followed by the cheering tones 
of Chloe’s echoing laugh. Madam Earle laid the child 
back upon her pillow. Even Katey knew that theii 
dreaded visitor had not come. 

How does thee do ? ” 

6 


82 


KA THERINE EARLE. 


An old gentleman stood just within the door, his 
face almost hidden under the broad-brimmed, gray 
felt hat he had not yet removed. His straight-bodied 
coat, and even his hair, were of this same gray hue, 
reminding Katey of a doll she had owned once, knit 
of gray yarn from head to foot, and bound off at the 
toes. His eyes were bright, and black, and shining, 
she could see as he advanced to meet her mother, — 
like beads, she said, still thinking of the doll, — and 
then she laughed aloud. 

Ah ! so this is the child ; ’’ and he turned to the 
sofa, laying his hand softly upon Katey’s head. 

And this is Jason Miles,” her mother explained ; 
the good man to whom I sent Ben. And now — ” 

But Katey sat upright among her pillows. Where 
is Ben ? ” 

The old gentleman laughed, — a little, wheezing 
laugh, which shook his body without materially affect- 
ing his countenance. 

“ He is safe ; but that is all I can tell thee now. 
Will thee not rest satisfied?” 

“ I suppose it’s a secret,” Katey replied, slowly. 
She had her own ideas as to honor — quaint, childish 
ideas, but true in the main ; and she asked nothing 
more of Ben, much as she desired to know where and 
how he had escaped. 

“ Yes, a great secret ; ” and again the rusty ma- 
chinery within the old gentleman seemed to run down 
noisily. Then he turned to her mother. I knew thee 
would be anxious about the apples,” he said, with a 
twinkle of the bright eyes ; so I brought them as 
soon as possible. I got the note about midnight. 
Thee had better know nothing more ; then thee can 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


83 


answer no questions.’’ He rose up as though his 
errand were done. My son is at the gate. We will 
roll the barrels in at once. I am in some haste to re- 
turn. Good by, little one, and God bless thee for a 
brave child ! ” He stood a moment over Katey, his 
hands resting upon her head, and she fancied he said 
something softly to himself. Then he followed her 
mother out of the room. 

She lay quite still after he had gone. A blessed 
quiet had descended upon her, like that which filled 
the church when the people bowed their heads to the 
last amen. By and by Jack crept in to sit beside her, 
• awed into silence at sight of the white face from which 
the flush had faded away, and Delphine before the old 
piano sang a little song in her sweet voice. It was a 
restful song, which had in it yet something of thanks- 
giving, and it stole into Katey’s heart, and nestled and 
crooned there softly, as she sank into a gentle sleep. 


84 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER YIII. 


IN WHICH THE OLD YOUNG MAN APPEARS. 

TIME of rest from excitement succeeded — the 



ebb after a flowing tide. So flir as the Earle 
household knew, no other search was ever made for 
Ben, who was assuredly not worth the trouble of pur- 
suit. He escaped in safety to Canada, returning, 
when the excitement had died away, the same shift- 
less, helpless character as before, aggravated, liow- 
ever, by a new sense of his own importance ; and the 
little back attic hid never again anything duskier than 
the shadows. 

Gradually the winter wore out and the spring 
peeped through. Not the spring of the country, all 
buds, and birds, and blossoms ; and yet something 
of bloom came even to Poplar Street. Certain de- 
mented robins — for surely no bird of a sound mind 
would seek the crowded, noisy town — came to build 
in the apple trees in the back yard — the poor old 
trees that had nearly overslept tlie time of waking, 
and shook out only a scant banner of green as tlie 
spring went trailing by. Wliite syringas and an old- 
fashioned lilac bloomed under the parlor windows, 
while across the narrow front yard, the honeysuckle, 
climbing the ugly brick wall, threw out delicate arms 
to sway, and beckon, and promise sweets to the 
summer. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


85 


With the spring came a new wonder to Katey. 
The old young man who liad danced with Delphine 
at the party began to appear at every turn. What 
did it mean ? Did they walk quietly down the street, 
bent upon a mission of charity, to Mammy, perhaps — 
lo ! as they reached the first corner he stood before 
them, smiling, and bowing, and raising his hat. The 
basket in Delphine ’s hand was changed to his own ; he 
walked by her side unrebuked, and even welcomed, 
which Katey, who was left to follow as she chose, 
marked with indignant astonishment. 

He seemed to the child to spring up from between 
the bricks of the sidewalk, so unlooked for was his 
coming. Did they attend church — out from the 
shadows under the heavy old-fashioned gallery his 
face beamed upon them; did Katey come strolling 
home late from school — she was sure to catch a 
glimpse against the syringa blossoms of Delphine's 
pink gown vanishing through the gateway, and the 
next moment the well-known form passed her, the 
old young man smiling and raising his hat. Smiling 
at nothing at all,’’ Katey said to herself, giving him a 
stiff little bow as she passed. “ Silly thing ! ” she 
added, from the depths of her superior wisdom. But 
her astonishment knew no bounds when, one afternoon 
as she came down the street, she saw him deliberately 
entering the great gate. She started upon a run, 
swinging her bonnet by the strings with an indig- 
nant whirl at the sight of this invasion. Her eyes 
had surely deceived her I But no ; when she pushed 
open the heavy gate he stood upon the broad stone 
steps before the door. His hand was upon the 
knocker ; but at Katey’s appearance he paused. 


86 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


‘‘Well, little one,’^ he said pleasantly, by way of 
greeting, as the elfish figure, clad soberly in brown, 
with the little bonnet still hanging by her side, came 
up to him. Katey made no reply. The occasion 
plainly called for severity. She opened the door 
with an absorbed and pre-occupied air, and would 
have disappeared among the soft, cool shadows within, 
had he not stretched out his hand to detain her. 
“ Could I see Miss Earle a moment ? Your sister.” 

“ 0, Delphine,” Katey said. Then why did you say 
“ Miss Earle,” she wanted to add, as, leaving him upon 
the threshold of the parlor, from which the summer 
sunshine had been shut out, she ran away to call 
Delphi ne. 

The young man groped forward. After the dazzling 
glare of a summer day outside, he could distinguish 
nothing among the faint, ill-defined forms here. It 
was odd to think that the great, prone creature before 
him might in the light prove only a sofa, or — then 
there was a sound as of a swift step upon the stairs, 
and the child appeared again, a veritable brownie in 
the dim light. 

“ You found her ? ” he ventured, interrogatively. 

“ Yes,” with a little draAvl of importance. 

“ Well,” — when Katey volunteered nothing more, — 
“ what did she say ? ” 

The child had crossed the room, and, opening the 
blind, let in a long, quivering ray of sunshine, in which 
she stood like a droll little saint, with a glistening halo 
about her head. She hesitated a moment, folding her 
hands and looking down. 

“She said — ” she began. 

“ Well ! ” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


87 


She said/’ Katey went on with grave deliberation, 
‘ What in the world has he come for ? ’ ” 

The young man stared open-eyed, and then laughed, 
viewing Katey as though she had been a newdy- dis- 
covered species. 

Perhaps you would like to know what I have come 
for ? ” 

Yes, Katey’s face betrayed her curiosity ; but at 
that moment, Delphine, sweet and shy, appeared in 
the doorway, dismissing the child by a backward 
wave of the hand as she closed the door. Katey sat 
down upon the stairs to await the development of the 
mystery. Presently Delphine, who had slipped out 
of the parlor unobserved, tripped over her as she 
hurried by. What are you doing here, child ? 
Run away.” 

She rose and mounted the stairs slowly. But she had 
hardly ensconced herself in the window-seat of the hall 
above, before Delphine descended, accompanied this 
time by her mother. The parlor door closed upon 
them. Curled up behind the curtains, with the heavy 
odor of the lilacs stealing in at the open window, and 
the soft twilight slowly gathering outside, she waited 
and listened. A great bumble-bee went whirring by 
to the honeysuckle over the way ; the bit of blue sky 
discernible between the high brick houses was drifted 
over with summer clouds ; there was a twitter of 
birds in the elm just outside the great gate ; but no 
sound came from the mysterious stillness below. 
After a time she heard Chloe’s heavy tread in the 
hall, and a faint glimmer from the swinging lamp 
over the stairs reached her hiding-place. All at 
once, when she had almost decided to steal down in 


I 


88 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


search of Jack, the echo of voices came up to her. 
The parlor door had been opened, the outer door 
swung to, and a sudden stillness succeeded. The 
visitor had gone. 

She sprang out and ran down the stairs. Jack had 
come in, and the family were seating themselves at the 
tea table. Her mother's face was unusually grave, and 
upon Delphine’s cheeks were unmistakable signs of 
recent tears. 0, dear ! what can it be ? ” thought 
Katey, too proud to ask, since she had been so plainly 
left out of their confidence. Jack alone appeared as 
usual. He was in high spirits, and gradually, in 
listening to his account of the trials and adventures 
with which every boyish day was full, her curiosity 
was forgotten, and the mystery of the afternoon 
passed from her mind. 

Lying in her little white bed at night, she was 
awakened as though her name had been uttered 
aloud. She opened her eyes, — was it morning? 
No ; it was the bright moonlight which flooded the 
room, and made of Delphine, standing before the 
window with her hair unbound, a white-robed spirit. 

Katey gave a little cry, and hid her face from the 
vision. 

It is only I. Are you awake ? ” said Delphine. 
She crossed the room, and sat down upon the edge 
of the bed. I want to tell you something.” And 
Katey, looking into her shining fiice, and seeing the 
glint of glory on her hair, trembled, and felt that per- 
haps it was an angel, after all. She put out her hand 
to touch her softly. A passing cloud hid the moon. 
The glory died out of the room, and it was indeed 
only Delphine, with her golden-brown hair falling over 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


89 


her shoulders, and with an untold story in her face. 

Do you know what I am going to tell you ? 

No,’^ Katey replied. How should she know I and 
if she did, what would be the use of telling it ! 

“ I am going to be married,’^ said Delphine, 
dreamily, and as though to herself. 

Why, Delphine Earle ! ’’ exclaimed the child, sit- 
ting upright in the bed. 

She had thought of marriage indefinitely, as a 
state upon which they would each and all enter at 
some distant period of their lives — an inevitable 
event ; but so far away, so shrouded in the dimness 
of futurity, as to be beyond all calculation. Delphine, 
it seemed, had forestalled the time, and Katey’s first 
impulse was one of indignation. 

“ I shall tell mother,’' she said, severely. 

Delphine laughed. ‘‘ 0, she knows it. She said I 
might tell you.” 

This made a different affair of it, and Katey was for 
a time lost in astonishment and the gravest cal- 
culations. 

Do you know whom I am to marry ? ” Delphine 
went on, after a moment. 

Katey considered. “ 0, Delphine, it isn't that old 
young man ? ” 

“ Yes, it is, and I am sure you will like him.” 

Katey only uttered a deep sigh, without speaking. 
Tlien, aroused to fresh wonder, Does he know it ? ” 
she asked. 

0, yes ; ” and again Delphine laughed. 

Are you sorry ? ” continued Katey, remembering 
the tears upon Delphiiie’s cheeks. 

No, only that I shall have to go away from you 
all ; ” and the tears sprang to Delphine’s eyes. 


90 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


A cold horror crept over Katey. “ Not to heaven ? ” 
she whispered. 

0, no, but I shall go away to live at Eobert’s 
home ; and that is a long distance from here — foul 
hundred miles, at least.” 

0, dear ! ” wailed the child. 

“There, don't cry.” Delphine’s cheerful nature 
began to assert itself at sight of Katey's woe. “ You 
will come and make me long visits. Perhaps some 
day you may live with me ; who knows ! Then you 
shall have a pretty little room all to yourself — not at 
all like this ; ” and she glanced about rather disdain- 
fully upon the heavy furniture, which had seen its 
best days. “ But lie down and close your eyes now ; 
it is time we were both asleep.” 

She rose as she spoke, and shut the moonlight out 
of the room. Other questions crowded Katey’s brain 
confusedly, but were never formed into words, for 
already the little feet were close upon the borders of 
dream-land. 

The next morning, however, her interest and curi- 
osity awoke with the day. “ When are you .going to 
be married ? ” she asked, as she brushed out the 
tangles in the short black locks. 

“ I don’t know — in a few weeks,” Delphine replied. 
“ Mother says it is a very short acquaintance, but then 
we know all about the family.” 

“ What is the matter with ’em ? ” asked Katey. 

“ I mean how fine a family it is,” Delphine replied. 
“ And 0, Katey, you don’t know how honorable he was 1 ” 

As Katey certainly did not, and had, moreover, no 
idea as to the meaning of the word, she contented 
herself with looking exceedingly responsive, being 
much flattered by Delphine’s unusual confidence. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 91 

Hg talked with mother before he said a word 
to me/^ 

Why, Delphine Earle/’ exclaimed the child, he 
was in the parlor with you a long time before you 
went up stairs to call mother. I was hiding in the 
hall,” she added, as corroborating evidence. 

But he had been here before, when neither you 
nor I was at home.” 

The breakfast bell interrupted their conversation. 
Delphine paused, as she was leaving the room, to say, 
“ He is coming to tea to-night. You’ll bo a good little 
girl, will you not ? and appear as well as you can ; for 
his people are all quite fine.” 

“ Are they coming ? ” Katey was aghast at the 
prospect. 

0, no ; but he would be likely to tell them about 
you.” 

I don’t think much of tell-tales,” was Katoy’s 
severe response. 

0, dear ! ” sighed Delphine, in despair, looking- 
down at the little figure standing composedly before 
the glass, pulling out the sombre folds of its gown, 
and knowing full well of what unexpected develop- 
ments the cliild was capable. Listen to me, Katey,” 
slie said ; I want him to like my little sister, do you 
see? and that is why I asked you to try to appear well.” 

And so I will,” Katey replied, warmly ; I’ll be a 
beautiful girl.” 

When she pushed open the heavy street door at 
night, the tones of a strange voice came out to her 
from the parlor. Robert Estemere, Delphine’s lover, 
had come, then, already. At that moment Delphine 
descended the stairs. There was a fleck or two of 


92 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


yellow-wliito lace about the neck of the green pongee, 
above which rose the fair face Hushed and happy, and 
lit by shining eyes. And as she came she hummed a 
little song. 

Is that you, Katey ? checking the song. Run 
away, dear, and make yourself nice.” Then she 
passed on, and the parlor door closed after her. 
Katey ran up the stairs with the bright vision still 
before her eyes. She, too, would be fine to honor 
their guest. She tossed tlie little brown bonnet into 
the corner of the room, and began a search, among the 
heavy drawers and in the depths of tlie great ward- 
robe, for something with which to adorn herself. 
Suddenly she remembered Delphine’s curls. At least 
she could dress her hair in an unusual Avay ; and, 
lilled with prophetic delight, she brought out a curl- 
ing-iron, and lit one of the candles in the tall candola- 
bruni on the mantel, making all the pendent prisms 
jingle like bells. 

Wliat though she burned lier fingers and streaked 
her forehead with queer liieroglyphics in her efibrts ? 
Even when the first curl vanished from before lier 
eyes in fire and smoke, as do the genii in fairy tales, 
she was neither discouraged nor dismayed. The 
final result was a succession of droll little stiff points 
standing out at every conceivable angle, as though 
she had adorned her head with tenpenny nails. 
“ Won't he be s’prised ? ” she thought, viewing them 
admiringly in the glass before proceeding to array 
herself in a last summer’s gown of some bright hue, 
wliich had caught her eye as she explored the re- 
cesses of the wardrobe. Very scant it was in every 
particular, requiring a herculean efibrt of the little 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


93 


fingers to make the refractory hooks and eyes join 
hands. No amount of pulling could lengthen the 
sleeves or prevent a deep flounce of white from show- 
ing below the skirt. This she essayed to remedy by 
means of a couple of pins, transforming herself into 
a ballet-dancer, but a ballet-dancer, alas ! who had 
forgotten her white slippers. Even then the back 
breadths of the skirt could not be reached by the liur- 
rying, trembling fingers, startled as she was by the 
unexpected sound of the tea bell 5 but the ornamenta- 
tion of her head also had been only in front ; “ and 
people always sit with their backs to the wall,” she 
thought, so it did not much matter. Thougli how 
very fortunate it was that it should be so ! There 
were no bounds to her ingenuity, nor indeed to her 
desires, as she hastily searched among Delphine’s 
treasures, conscious that her own were not equal to 
the occasion, nor suited to the grand scale of her prep- 
arations. Her time being limited, she contented her- 
self with a showy scarf, crossed upon her proud little 
bosom, and fastened by an enormous brooch, which, 
upon the diminutive figure, had much the effect of a 
moderate-sized breastplate. Thus bristling about the 
head, and tolerably shielded, armed, and equipped for 
conquest, she was ready to descend ; filled with an ec- 
static joy, a thrilling sense of delight at the result of 
licr efforts, in the midst of which struggled the one 
thought of Won’t he be s’prised ? ” Of that she had 
no doubt. 

She reached the parlor door. Slie opened it with 
assurance, and moved stiffly into the room ; shuffling 
forward in a way intended to hide lier dusty shoes, 
remembered now for the first time. Jack had already 


94 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


been presented to the stranger, and taken refuge in a 
corner. Her mother had risen from her chair pre- 
pared to lead the way out to tea. Delphine and her 
lover were half hidden behind the heavy curtains of 
one of the windows. The opening door caused every 
one to turn. 

Good Heavens ! ” exclaimed Delphine, involunta- 
rily, as the strange little figure, with its face tattooed 
like that of a South Sea Islander, paused a moment 
before advancing. At the same instant a suppressed 
shout burst from Jack’s corner. An awful pause suc- 
ceeded, in the midst of which the strained fastenings 
of the goAvn began to give way with a noise like the 
discharge of musketry. Jack started from his seat. 
Delphine laughed aloud. 

Child ! what have you done to yourself? ” ex- 
claimed lier mother. 

Poor Katey ! She looked from one to another with 
great beseeching eyes, in which the tears were slowly 
gathering, as her mother led her hastily from the 
room. 

I don’t know what to do with you,” Madam Earle 
said, in a puzzled tone, trying not to laugli, as the 
mortification and grief of the child gathered into sobs. 
She hesitated. The guest must not be neglected. 
“ I think you had best go to bed. Chloe shall bring 
you some supper presently. There, don’t cry, dear ; ” 
and kissing the little tattooed forehead, she returned 
to the parlor, while Katey climbed the stairs with far 
different emotions from those with which she had de- 
scended a few moments before. 

It was Jack who, with much clatter and rattle, and 
imminent peril to his burden, sought her a little later. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


95 


a supper tray in hand. She was lying upon the bed 
in all her despised finery, sobbing as though her heart 
would break. 0, Jack ! isn’t it dreadful ? He’ll tell 
all his folks, and they’re beautiful people.” 

No, he won’t,” returned Jack, consolingly, setting 
down the tray at an alarming angle. 

Yes, he will ; Delphine said so,” persisted Katey, 
refusing to be comforted. 

'' He isn’t such a fellow as that, I’m sure,” Jack 
went on. He’s going to rig my ship after tea.” 

“ Is he ? ” Katey’s tears ceased to flow. That will 
be real nice. But 0, Jack ! 7’ve got to go to bed ! ” 

“No, you needn’t. Mother only said so, because 
she didn’t know what else to do with you. My I ” 
as Katey sat upright, inspired with hope at this. 
“ Well, you are a picture ! ” The problem was almost 
beyond Jack’s skill. He regarded her doubtfully for 
a moment. “ Suppose you wash your face, and comb 
out that top-knot, and put on the clothes you always 
wear ; you might come down and slip into the parlor, 
and no one would notice you.” 

Katey turned her liead upon one side doubtingly. 

“ I’ll tell them not to,” Jack burst out, ignoring his 
bashful fears by a mighty effort. 

“Will you? 0, you are the goodest Jack !” and 
Katey intercepted his retreat by throwing her arms 
about his neck. 

“ Well, don’t choke a fellow,” said Jack, struggling 
to get free, inwardly pleased that his efforts were ap- 
preciated, yet, boy-like, determined not to show it. 
“ Mind, no fol-de-rols this time,” he added, sharply, 
from the door. 

“ 0, no,” Katey replied, with awful solemnity. “ I 
shouldn’t think of such a thing.” 


96 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Half an hour later, a little brown figure stole down 
the stairs, and lingered in the hall, where a summer 
wind blew rustling leaves in at the open door, with the 
sound of a street organ, and the jingle of a tambourine. 
Alter a while, when the music and the tinkle of the 
bells sounded far away, Katey crept towards the par- 
lor. No one noticed her ; no one looked up or greeted 
her. Delphine, before the old piano, touched soft 
chords with gentle fingers, the breeze lifting the cur- 
tains behind her, and stirring her hair. Madam Earle 
sat in the shadow, her head turned away, and resting 
upon her hand. Jack’s round, freckled face was close 
to the blazing lamp, disputing possession with the 
moths that flew dizzily about, while he watched 
every movement of his new friend, under whose 
skilful fingers the rigging of the ship went on. Soon 
Delphine left the piano. Katey ventured to draw near, 
and even Madam Earle at last joined the circle, and 
the evening, begun so inauspiciously, had a very 
pleasant, and even merry ending, after all. 

Delphine’s wedding followed before many weeks ^ — 
the first break in the family. But the little rift once 
made, how it widens as the years go by ! They were 
very peaceful, uneventful years which settled down 
upon the old house after Delphine’s sunny presence 
left it, the happiest years of all — those which tempt 
no one to write their history. One by one they fell 
softly, each covering the last with forgetfulness. 
Katey’s odd freaks and fancies passed out of mind, as 
they were toned down by the touch of womanhood. 
For Katey was growing to be a woman. Jack had 
arrived at man’s estate already. Have we dwelt too 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


97 


long upon the child, and the people who moved in 
and out, and formed a part of her daily life ? Many, 
perhaps the most of them, were but accessories to 
the picture, but lay figures — in however strong a 
light they were placed at the time. In the days of 
our great-grandmothers, when it was the fashion to 
transmit one’s portrait to his or her descendants, it was 
not the face alone, however grand or sweet it might 
be, which found a place upon the canvas. There was a 
shimmer of soft silk, a Ml of yellow lace, a bit of mar- 
ble pavement under the impossible feet, the back of 
an old carved chair, the projecting corner of a cabinet 
surmounted by an antique vase, or possibly an open 
door or window, and a smooth stretch of lawn, with 
the towers of a castle in the distance. All these were 
not — and yet they helped to make up — the portrait 
of a lady. And so Katey’s early surroundings and 
associations may serve in some measure to show the 
child-nature which Avas the same to the end. Years 
Avill strengthen or soften, they can never utterly de- 
stroy. In a feAv Avords, Ave may gather up the threads 
of these years before Ave pass on. 

Sad days came at last to the old house Avhere the 
mother began to fade aAvay; imperceptibly at first, 
not losing, only failing to gain, Avith the gathering 
years. Gradually Katey assumed her cares, until she 
bore them all, Avith a burden of dread heavier than 
care. She Avas alone; Jack had gone to be agent for 
some stone quarries in Avhich Delphine’s husband held 
an interest. She Avas doubly alone; Jack had Josie 
Durant, — for the boyish fancy greAV and strengthened, 
and he had Avon her promise noAv, — Delphine had her 
husband and child ; but to Katey Avas left only the 
7 


98 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


mother, who was slipping away now. 0, to know this, 
at last, beyond all comfort of doubting ; to feel that 
strong hands could not hold her, that neither prayers 
nor tears could avail ; to have the awful sense of 
walking day after day in the valley of the shadow of 
death, with feet heavy and sore, and eyes blinded by 
crying; to grope in the midst of thick darkness; to 
stretch out the hands and grasp nothing ; to know 
that, somewhere, into this darkness, the dear form 
would presently vanisli where she could not follow \ 

She knew that around, above, beneath, were the 
everlasting arms ; but in those days they seemed to 
her to enclose only the happy. Then came the last 
hour, the last word, the last trembling breath — and 
the darkness. 

But the Light shineth in darkness. 

The old house, with all its tender associations, 
passed into the hands of strangers. It passed from the 
face of the earth and the sight of men years ago ; but 
the loving memory of the place rests in the heart of 
one woman to-day. Chloe sought and found a new 
home, and Delphine claimed Katey for her own, bear- 
ing her away to her own home in a distant city. 

“ Perhaps you will live with me some day,” she had 
said once to assuage Katey’s childish grief; little 
dreaming that the words would prove a prophecy, 
fulfilled a dozen years later, through more bitter tears 
than those which had wet the little face at the pros- 
pect of Delphine^s marriage. 

It had been autumn and winter while the mother 
was passing away — the very season taking on some- 
thing of the gloom and heaviness of the sad young 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


99 


heart that waited and watched so helplessl}^ The 
spring bloomed out in Delphine’s city home like a 
promise of happier days. Hope, and even joy, will 
return, though we think they are banished forever ; 
and the late summer of that year brought to Katey, if 
not flowers, yet a certain freshness, and something 
like bloom, which showed that life was not meant to 
be so dreary and forlorn as she had believed it would 
be only a little time before. 


[ L. of C. 


100 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTEK IX. 

DACRE HOME. 

A gain the autumn and the winter passed by, and 
Katey had become accustomed to the new life, 
which, in its ease and luxury, was so unlike the old, but 
which must always hold one place unfilled. They had 
come down to the sea, Mrs. Estemere, Katey, and 
Launce, Delphine’s boy, a long way from their city 
home, to spend the summer months. The Durants had 
taken a house close by, just across the gravelly car- 
riage-way and strip of lawn dotted with flower plots 
which ran before the cottages, — in the last of which 
they were domiciled, — from the hotel to the cliff. It 
was a hot, breathless morning, with the sun hanging 
like a globe of fire over the shining sea and glistening 
sands. Katey had descended late, to find Delphine 
already gone for her bath. Calamity, the colored 
waiter from the hotel, had brought in the breakfast, 
and was making the coffee now in the little butler’s 
pantry, out of the toy dining-room. She pulled up 
the blinds, and seated herself before the table set out 
in the bay-window, which framed a picture shifting as 
the views of a magic lantern. A straggling honey- 
suckle brancli, crowded with blossoms, barred her 
vision, while beyond, below the cliff, the yellow sand 
stretched out far as the eye could see, alive with 
bathers. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


101 


Some one ran hastily np the steps from the beach, 
and passed the window. It was Delphine in a pink 
morning-dress, her hair twisted up loosely under 
lier wide-rimmed hat, but falling in damp, crinkling 
waves down upon one cheek. Fresh and sweet to 
look at as a young girl, she was, though she had been 
wife and mother for a dozen years or more now. 

Whom do you think I met this morning?’’ She 
stood before the table eating strawberries from the 
glass dish encircled with cool, green leaves, just be- 
fore her, picking them up one by one with her pink- 
tipped fingers. How did Katey know ? The Russian 
minister, perhaps, in his drosky, after whom, in any 
other place but this, where common things only were 
strange and unlooked-for, the boys would have run in 
the street ; or Mrs. Colonel Cuyler, with her hideous 
black dwarf in the rumble of her phaeton ; or — 

‘‘ Dacre Home ! ” 

All ! ” but Katey’s face showed only a passing inter- 
est. Here is Calamity with the coffee. Was ever 
misfortune more welcome?” 

But you remember him ? ” persisted Mrs. Este- 
mcre, when she had unloosed the little silk scarf, 
tying her hat under her chin, and was seated opposite 
her sister. 

0, yes ! ” There flashed upon Katey’s mind a rec- 
ollection of the morning when she ran down Poplar 
Street, followed by poor quaking Ben, when Dacre 
stood upon the steps over the way, and saw him enter 
the great gate after her. He told of it, she knew. 
It was he who informed the officers. That was a 
dozen and more years ago ; but again she was thrilled 
with indignation at the thought. How childish ! ” 


102 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


she added, in a moment, to herself. “ It was probably 
accidental, after all. I suppose I should hardly know 
him now,” she said, aloud. He went away to school 
when we were both quite young, and I never chanced 
to meet him afterwards.’^ 

“ I am sure you would. 1 recognized him at once,” 
Delphine rejoined, hastily. She was evidently pleased 
by this unexpected meeting. And I asked him to 
call.” 

Kate}^ laid down her fork. How could you ? ” 

How could I avoid it? Besides, I was thoroughly 
glad to see him. We knew him when we were chil- 
dren. It was for you, dear. What do you mean ? I 
thought you would be pleased.” Then she drew a 
frightened breath, and stared at the innocent blos- 
soms that had thrust their pink faces in at the open 
window. “ I fear I ought not to have asked him, after 
all. What have we heard ? What were the stories ? 
Some affair at college — ” 

“ He never finished his course, I believe,” Katey re- 
plied. He was expelled, or left under suspicion. I 
don’t know the story ; I could not ask J eanie, but there 
was something.” 

Then what did he appear to me for ! ” exclaimed 
Mrs. Estemere, in real vexation. Why do such peo- 
ple always come up when you least expect them, and 
have had no time to decide upon how they ought to 
be received ? ” 

Very likely you’ll never see him again,” suggested 
Katey, consolingly. 

‘‘ 0, yes, I will ; I shall meet him the first time I 
leave the house ; and he will call, I know. I saw it 
in his face. He seemed quite overcome by the invi- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


103 


tation. Poor fellow ! I suppose nobody is glad to see 
him. Perhaps it is not so bad, after all. Such stories 
are always exaggerated/’ she added, anxious to find 
some point of comfort in what appeared now an awk- 
ward dilemma. But I cannot allow you to meet him ; 
not, at least, until I learn something more. And, as 
you say, we may never see him again.” 

At night Calamity came down from the hotel with a 
steaming kettle in one hand, and a plate of toast 
wrapped in a napkin in the other, running back for 
the butter and a dish of berries, with which he marked 
his course the length of the carriage way, and again 
for the shrimps and cresses. The bustle was over at 
last, the tea served, the tea-things cleared away, and 
Katey had gone up to her room to write a note to 
Jack. She would run over to Josie Durant’s, and en- 
close it in her semi- weekly letter presently when 
it was finished. She was writing the last word 
when she heard a step outside upon the gravel, then 
a voice, and a movement down below upon the veranda. 
She sprang up, urged by curiosity ; the letter upon 
her knee fluttered down to the floor. But she was 
too late ; the roof of the veranda screened the visitor 
from her sight, whoever he might be. She had not 
recognized his voice, but Delphine would send for her 
if it were one of the many acquaintances whom the 
pretty mistress of the little buff cottage had gathered 
about her here. 

It must be Dacre, Katey thought, when the hot, 
still twilight settled into a breathless darkness, and 
yet no summons came. She groped about in vain for 
a light. Where was Dobry — Delphine’s maid ? She 
had forgotten to leave a candle. She found her way 


104 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


at last to the open window again. Something slipped 
under her foot. It was the note to Jack. Josie would 
mail her letter without it now, believing she had not 
written. It was a pretty little cottage, this which 
they had taken for the summer — all gables, and dor- 
mer-windows, and cream- colored peaks and points, 
glaringly bright, and dazzling under a midday sun. 
But to-night, with no breeze from the sea, the cham- 
bers were hot and stifling, and it was double torment 
to be shut up like a prisoner here throughout the 
whole long evening. 

Mrs. Estemere looked in on her way to bed. 

What, still in the dark, Katey ? This is quite too 
bad. Where is Dobry ? ’’ 

Then it was Dacre ? ” And Katey stepped out of 
the shadows into the circle of light from the candle 
in Delphine’s hand. 

Yes ; and you might have come down, after all. 
Still, I am not sorry,” she added, thoughtfully, seem- 
ing to drop out of the present moment into the past 
hour again, of wliich Katey had heard only the mur- 
mur of voices. “ He has told me a great deal about 
himself ; and I think he has been abused.” 

Perhaps so.” Katey spoke indifferently. She 
knew nothing of the story. Still her prejudices were 
against him. Something within her rose up and joined 
his accusers. 

He is coming again,” Delphine said, as she was 
leaving the room. “ That is, if he does not go away 
at once.” Tlien she set down her candle, and kissed 
Katey good night. And a new chapter had begun 
already in Katey's life, though she knew nothing of it. 

The summer twilight was like a story — like a beau- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


105 


tifiil old story read to the accompaniment of music, 
with the great far-spreading, luminous sea before the 
eyes, and the dull, hushed noise of the surf rolling in 
upon the ear, as though some fearful dragon of ancient 
times lay bound and moaning upon the shore. Strag- 
gling carriages, filled with gayly dressed people, 
toiled home across the sands. Young men and 
maidens trooped by along the cliff — an endless pro- 
cession. Year after year the sea heard a story more 
beautiful than that of the twilight — whispered softly 
or shouted aloud by happy voices, shrill and gay ; the 
story of youth, and love, and summer time. The 
voices, the forms, the faces may change ; but the story 
will go on while the world stands and the sea crouches 
upon the shore to listen. 

Katey, tall and slight, and holding up her white 
gown, caught here and there with black ribbons, 
stepped out from the veranda. The little strip of 
lawn was wet with dew, which might have blown in 
from the sea, so salt it was ; the Cupid’s bow set in 
the grass flamed with scarlet geraniums. 

Allow me, if it is a nosegay you want,” said a 
young man who had followed her, moving languidly 
down the steps. But Katey was already bending 
over the flowers. “ Don’t disturb yourself, Mr. Yose. 

1 was looking for heliotropes ; but there are none, I 
see ; ” and she rose again. Some one, coming up from 
the cliff, turned at the sound of her fresh, sweet voice 
— a young man whose eyes met hers. Dark eyes 
they were, set tolerably near each other in a dark, 
smooth face. For an instant she stood quite still, 
holding the white drapery about her, some recollec- 
tion struggling in her mind, the darkening space be- 


106 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


hind her, the bright flowers at her feet ; then he had 
raised his hat and passed on. Delphine was right ; 
she knew him now ; it was Dacre Home, though for a 
moment his face had been strange to her. But where 
had he been all this time ? A week had passed since 
he came to win Mrs. Estemere’s good opinion. He 
was evidently in no haste to follow up his victory. 

Katey was down before Delphine the next morning. 
What was this upon her plate ? — a loose knot of 
wet, heavy-scented heliotropes. Mr. Vose,” she 
said. And yet he was not accustomed to be abroad 
at such an early hour, she knew. Calamity came 
shambling in from the pantry at her call, ducking his 
head by way of obeisance. 

“A young gem’man passin’ de winder when I’s 
settin’ out de table lay it jus’ dar,” he explained. 

For Mrs. Estemere ? ” 

No ; for de young lady — for you, missy.” 

Some one of the gentlemen up at the hotel, I sup- 
pose. Which ? ” 

“ No, missy ; a strange gem’man. I nebber seen 
him ’fore, shore’s I lib. A young, dark-like gem’man.” 

The flowers dropped out of her hand. 

Dacre had heard her remark, then, the evening be- 
fore. How impertinen, to come to the window ! She 
rose and took hold of the tassel of the shutter- cord. 
The string caught ; it fell with a crash at last. “ Don’t 
leave it so again ; I am sure it is not safe,” she said, 
and passed on into the little drawing-room to wait for 
Delphine. 

“ How nice it was of him ! ” Mrs. Estemere ex- 
claimed, wdien Katey had told the story, even to the 
chance encounter of the night before. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


107 


I think it was impertinent/^ Katey replied. She 
remembered him as a boy, with his hanghty, super- 
cilious ways. How he had looked down upon and 
scorned them all then ! That time was as fresli and 
vivid to her mind as when they lived it. Why had he 
come now to act a different part ? Circumstances Iiad 
changed, but they had not changed. Hobry came 
down with Launce, and they passed out to the break- 
last-table. It was Mrs. Estemere, who gathered up 
the despised flowers at last, put them in water, and 
set them out in the drawing-room. Why should it 
not be ? ” she had said to herself, thinking of Katey 
and Hacre, and looking far into the future with a 
woman’s hasty catching at possibilities. 

He had won upon her sympathies, — by no means a 
difficult matter of attainment, for Delphiiie was tender- 
hearted and unsuspicious ; he Avas undeniably well- 
born, as we Americans reckon good birth, having had 
a grandffither of Avhom it was safe to speak even in 
polite society. His family had prospered and in- 
creased in wealth since the old days in l^oplar Street, 
where their name was remembered now to point more 
than one story of success ; he had been Avild and reck- 
less in his life, — but though she said the words to 
herself, the blessed innocence of the woman’s mind 
clothed them with but vague meaning, — still he 
would turn, he would change, and he had only to re- 
pent to be received, like the prodigal son, with music 
and dancing, with feasting and gifts, in his father’s 
house. And when all these results were brought 
about, Avhat could be more desirable for Katey, who 
was growing restless under her idle, unaccustomed 
life, and was planning even so soon to go away and do 


108 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


for herself. Proud, foolish Katey ! who could not 
take even from Delphine and Jack, dearly as she loved 
them, what they were only too happy to bestow upon 
her. 

The wind changed towards night. The sky shut 
down upon the sea, and the fog came driving in, heavy 
and thick. Down upon the shore the dragon roared 
and chafed at his chains. The beach was deserted, 
the cliff bare of strollers, as Katey sprang out of the 
low phaeton at the door of the cottage, her pretty 
violet gown drenched, her hair, heavy and damp, fall- 
ing upon her neck, her arms filled with great creamy 
lilies. The drive across the country, with the wet 
wind in her face, had brought a new light to her eyes, 
a new deep red to her cheeks. “ Good night,” called 
Josie Durant, gathering up the reins, and turning the 
lieads of her ponies. Josie’s gown, gray and glistening, 
held its own, despite the fog — her hair, too, bound up 
tight and smooth, knew no change. Our very outward 
adorning takes on something of our inner nature, and 
Josie, calm, unruffled, self-contained, Avould have 
passed through a fiery furnace unscathed. So it 
seemed to poor, foolish, impulsive Katey, avIio, from 
gown to heart, reflected every beam of sunshine about 
her, or was wrapped in every cloud. 

Some one rose as she paused in the drawing-room 
door, her hat, with its wreath of lilies, sliding down to 
her feet. ‘‘ Ah ! ” she gasped. She Avas not nice 
for company. That Avas her first thought. Her hat, 
in its descent, had caught the comb Avhich held her 
hair. Sabrina ! ” Dacro uttered under his breath. 

You remember Dacre, I am sure,” Avas Delphine’s 
more commonplace greeting, trying to put them upon 
familiar terms at once by this frank use of his name. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


109 


Katey answered coldly, bowing formally as she 
passed on, at which Delpliine stared. It is hard 
when one has arranged a play, and begins to pull the 
strings, to find that the puppets throw out an arm in- 
stead of a foot, or, worse still, turn their backs upon 
each other. But to Katey it was a charade, in which 
she was to improvise her own part, only, unfortunate- 
ly she and Delpliine had not cliosen the same word. 
There was an awkward moment, tlien Dacre excused 
himself and went away. ' 

Why did you do so ? ’’ said Mrs. Estemere, when 
he had gone. Why should you not be kind and 
pleasant to liim ? ’’ 

Why should I ? ” Katey replied, witli a jarring 
chord in her voice ; “ he was anything but kind and 
pleasant to us when we were children.” 

^^Good gracious Katey! You don’t mean that you 
have laid anything by to bring up against him after all 
these years?” Delpliine looked at her as though 
Katey had developed the spirit of a Lucretia Borgia. 

“ No,” Katey replied, slowly. But I wish he would 
go away.” 

I am afraid that is a very wicked spirit,” said Mrs. 
Estemere, severely. Her quickly devised scheme 
seemed toppling to the ground already. 

1 don’t know ; I don’t wish liim any harm, I am 
sure,” Katey replied, in a softer voice. I should be 
glad to know he was doing well. But 1 should prefer 
it to be a great way off” Tlien slie laughed, bending 
over Delpliine, and giving her a kiss. It is silly and 
childish, I know,” she added, and Ell do differently 
another time, since you wish it.” 

“ Perhaps there will not be another time,” replied 


no 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Delphine, rather coldly. “ His stay is extremely un- 
certain. He said to-night that he ought to go.” 

“ Then why don’t he ? ” Katey rejoined, quickly. 
“ I’m sure we are not keeping him.” 

“ He has other friends here, I presume.” 

Very likely ; ” and then Katey went on arranging 
her lilies, and nothing more was said of their visitor. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Ill 


CHAPTER X. 

WHERE MORE IS MEANT THAN MEETS THE EAR. 

B ut Dacre did not go. The days passed on, heavy, 
yet sweet, like the scent of tropical flowers, — idle 
summer days beside a summer sea, — and Katey met 
him continually — sometimes as they rolled along the 
wide, smooth avenue, themselves no insigniflcant part 
of the brilliant pageant spread out here upon a bright 
afternoon ; sometimes as they came like mermaids out 
of the sea ; or more often in the twilight, when they 
sat in unpremeditated state to receive their visitors, 
enthroned in the bright red chairs upon the veranda. 
He was always alone. Where are the friends for 
whom he has staid ? Katy thought, wondering not a 
little over his forlorn appearance. But at sight of 
them his dark face would brighten for the moment, 
the cloud of discontent or ill-humor being dispelled by 
Delphine^s cheerful greeting. Katey was still chary 
of her smiles. He seemed to her like a dark spot 
upon the beautiful landscape. I think he is unhap- 
py,’’ Pelphine said. But Katey believed that he 
moped ; and to mope when one is young and strong 
seemed to her the height of folly, if not of sin. Often 
he lingered for a moment beside them ; then she would 
try to be gracious, remembering her promise to Del- 
phine, but utterly failing in the attempt. Her manners 


112 


KAIHERINE EARLE. 


had not yet hardened into tlie crust which we all 
wear later in life. So far^ every emotion, every pre- 
judice would show through. 

You do not like me,” he said, boldly, one night, 
finding her upon the veranda alone. 

“ Why should I ? ” slio replied ; then, friglitened at 
herself, slie added, quickly, Why should I not ? ” 

1 commend your wisdom,” — and he threw liimself 
down upon the steps at her feet, — but I wish you 
would.” 

He quite forgot the connection between his sen- 
tences, as he raised to her the face which appeared 
almost boyish in the softening light. There was a 
laugh upon his lips ; but the depth and pleading of his 
eyes gave it the lie. 

Katey stared, the warm color flying into her face. 
This was not at all as the young men she had met were 
accustomed to address her. I — I am sure I wish 
you well,” she said, hesitatingly, and with a quaver of 
embarrassment in her voice. It was a stiff, old-fash- 
ioned sentence, and sounded prim and strange in her 
own ears ; but the words were the first which came 
to her. 

So you do your bitterest enemy, I suppose,” he 
replied. Only you can have no enemy, I know,” he 
added, gently. 

Then Helpliine appeared, with a flutter and sweep 
of soft muslin and lace, and Katey breathed again. 
But he bent over her hand when he rose to say good 
night. We are to be friends; you are not angry?” 
he asked in a low voice. 

‘O), no, no,” Katey replied, hurriedly, drawing her 
hand away. What if Delpliine should see ? Which 
question had she answered ? She hardly knew. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


113 


They sat here until the darkness enveloped them 
and the stars twinkled down : but Katey did not tell 
Delphine what had passed between Dacre and herself. 
And, indeed, was there anything to tell ? But the ice 
in her heart had begun to molt. What were his 
boyish pride and superciliousness, that she should have 
remembered them all these years? she thought, re- 
proaching herself that night, when she was taking off 
her ornaments and letting down her hair. Once, 
during the evening, Dobry had passed the open door 
with a lamp in her hand ; the flaring rays of light had 
fallen upon his face. How sad it was ! Katey forgot 
that she had said he moped, as she gave him a sigh 
from the depths of her gentle heart. Yes, the ice 
was beginning to melt. 

This marked the commencement of a new order of 
events. He began now to appear at the cottage at all 
hours of the day, and some which verged upon the 
night. He leaned over the sill of the low bay-window, 
and drank coffee with them in the morning. He fer- 
reted out an old guitar from some dingy shop in the 
town, and sang quaint, weird songs in the twilight to 
a low accompaniment, which set strange chords to 
vibrating in Katey^s heart ; he walked, and rode, and 
bathed in their company ; he became, in more senses 
than one, Katey’s shadow. But she made use of every 
innocent artifice to avoid meeting him alone. What 
might he not say ? After that first evening all dread- 
ful possibilities seemed open to him. She had had no 
experience with lovers. She did not even question 
in her own mind if it were love he meant, though she 
was so shy of meeting him ; and yet, after a time, she 
was conscious of a bond between them. 

8 


114 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


You will do this, I know,’’ he said, one day, asking 
some slight favor, worthless in itself. 

Why will I ? ” and Katey opened her great eyes 
upon him. 

He bent over the fastening of her glove. Be- 
cause — 0, I don’t know; I wish you would.” And 
she did it. 

She was a foolish Katey. So she confessed to her- 
self a little later, when the bond had strengthened 
more and more, and held her like a chain. Delphine, 
seeing the play go on after her own heart, rejoiced in- 
wardly, looking farther into the future than Katey, 
who hardly realized that her feet were snared, so 
pleasant was the land about her. 

“You do not wish him to go away now, — to do 
well a long way off? ” she said, archly, one day. The 
temptation to triumph over the success of her little 
scheme was too great, for the moment, to be resisted. 

Katey’s brown cheek flamed crimson. ‘‘ I wish — I 
don’t know what I wish.” 

She rose, hurriedly, and went out of the room. What 
did Delphine mean? What was it all — ^the summer, 
the strange charm, and yet pain, which had stolen into 
her life ? How would it end ? For the summer was 
almost over. Only a few days more, and they would 
go their several ways — Delphine back to her city 
home, she to try her own strength, which seemed 
feeble enough, as the time drew near. Reluctantly, 
Delphine had given her consent, and Katey had sought 
and found a position in a school — three hundred miles, 
at least, from Delphine’s home. Even Jack’s unwill- 
ing sanction had at last been gained. She was to 
leave before the others. And Dacre ? How little she 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


115 


knew of his life ! Why did she doubt him so at times ? 
Where would he go ? Should she ever see him again ? 
As the time drew near when they were to separate, 
his manner became more and more strange and va- 
riable, his moods beyond all comprehension. 1 am 
a wretch, Katey,’’ he said, one day, in so humble and 
hopeless a tone that Katey’s tender heart was touched 
with pity for the warm-hearted, wayward boy, whom 
nobody welcomed, as Delphine had said, and whom 
nobody tried to save. What was the cloud which 
liung over him? If she only dared ask ! Could it bo 
that there was something in Ids past life which he 
shrank from telling — something whicli haunted 1dm, 
and yet of which he could not speak ? To Katey, 
wliose innocent history was like a chained book in an 
old chapel, the leaves of which any one might turn at 
will, the thought was too dreadful to be entertained. 
Who were his friends and associates ? Even Delphine 
confessed that she had failed to learn. Certainly ho 
had none here save themselves. “ But ho will go 
home now,'' Mrs. Estemere said, to ease her mind of 
a sharp doubt as to the wisdom of the intimacy she 
had fostered and encouraged ; “ he will go home to his 
father's house." It was only a few days before that 
he had spoken of it. 

Dacre and Katey strolled on up the narrow streets 
of the old town. Yes, I am a wretch," ho repeated. 
It seemed as though he would say more ; but ho 
checked himself. 

One would think you had broken all the command- 
ments." Katey spoke lightly, but there was an anx- 
ious tone in her voice. 

I believe I have forgotten what they are," he re- 
plied, with a little bitter laugh. 


116 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


“ Don’t/’ said Katey ; “ it hurts me to hear you 
speak so.” 

Some one turned the corner in their faces at that 
moment — a gentleman, not young, as girls of twenty 
reckon youth, of medium height, squarely built, with 
a strong, frank face, shaded on either side by a heavy, 
red-brown beard. A pair of keen gray eyes, under a 
heavy forehead, were fastened for an instant upon 
Katey’s pained, anxious face, with its frame of pretty, 
dark hair and soft, violet ribbons. Ah, he thought, is 
it so? reading a story in the sweet, girlish counte- 
nance, which wore no mask. As his glance passed 
quickly to Dacre, his forehead gathered into a frown ; 
he almost checked his steps ; then he half bowed, and 
passed on. 

Katey, too, had made, involuntarily, a movement to 
stop. “ Who was it ? ” she asked, startled into forget- 
fulness of what had gone before. He recognized you. 
I thought he was going to speak.” 

But Dacre had been too much absorbed to notice, 
don’t know;” and he looked back, carelessly. 
“ More likely it was you who caught his eye. I only 
wonder he passed on.” 

Katey did not smile over the flattery implied in his 
words. She was lost in thought. She was haunted by 
the expression of the man’s face. Why had he scowled 
upon Dacre ? Delphine said the world had judged him 
harslily. How or wliy, Katey had never asked. So 
the world looked coldly upon him ! She liad never re- 
alized what that could mean until now, when she felt 
her face grow hot. She laid lier hand timidly in Ins 
arm. 1 believe I am tired,’’ she said, by way of ex- 


cuse. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


117 


His face brightened at once. The unhappy mood 
vanished like the sudden disappearance of a morning 
fog. They went on up the tortuous streets and broad, 
shaded avenues, and he, at least, was gay as though no 
care or regret had ever rested on him. 

He left her at Josie Durant’s door. But Josie had 
gone over to Mrs. Estemere’s cottage ; so Katey walked 
slowly home across the lawn, saddened in spite of her- 
self, and full of vague fears. Perhaps it was an old, 
childish habit revived ; perhaps it was one of those 
strange premonitions which no one can explain ; but 
foremost in her mind at this moment pressed the ques- 
tion, What will Jack say ? 

As if to answer for himself, he met her face to face 
as she stepped upon the veranda. He had arrived 
while she was out. Dear old Jack! The freckles were 
gone now ; the forehead was broad, and whiter than 
Katey’s where the short, dark curls shaded it. The 
eyes still glinted like sparks of fire. Katey’s heart 
warmed with pride and pleasure at sight of him. He 
seized and kissed her with affectionate roughness, and 
drew her through the long, open window, into the 
pretty little drawing-room, where Delphine sat alone. 

“ What is this about your going away so soon ? ’’ 
he asked. 

“ I don’t know, only I am going to-morrow,” Katey 
replied. 

“ Nonsense ! ” Jack was still chary of words ; but 
there is force as well as wit in brevity. 

So I tell her,” Delphine hastened to add ; though, 
in truth, Delphine had never uttered so brief a sen- 
tence. It is a foolish whim ; I supposed, of course, 
she would stay with us until she married.” 

But if I shouldn’t marry ? ” 


118 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Everybody marries,” Delpliine replied, except 
women with spheres, and those who are born to be 
old maids.” 

I wonder if Elsie Bird was born to be an old 
maid,” said Katey, thonglitfully. Delpliine, how 
lovely she was in spirit and in all her ways ! ” 

Her lover died, I believe,” Delpliine answered. 

Jack had thrown himself into an easy-chair, and lit 
a cigar ; for the cosy little drawing-room was smoking- 
room as well, unbounded liberty being the rule in 
Delphine’s home. 

'‘For Heaven’s sake, Katey,” he broke in now, 
" don’t be a Avoman Avith a sphere, or I’ll disoAvn you.” 

" I have no desire to be a Avoman Avith a sphere,” 
returned Katey, " and I have been very happy Avith 
Kobert and Delpliine, and I should like to come and 
stay Avith you and Josie by and by, I am sure, only 1 
should like to do something for myself first. Do lot 
me try it for a little Avhile. Delpliine has been too 
kind. I do notliing but dress, and fold my hands, and 
try to look pretty, and I believe I am tired of it. I 
Avant to do a bit of real hard work, as- — as I used to,” 
she added, Avith a little quaver in her voice, thinking 
of the old home and the cares which had rested upon 
the girlish shoulders. 

"Well, but AAdiy can’t you Avork here?” persisted 
Jack. "Where arc all the fol-de-rols Avomen busy 
themselves about ? Where’s your scAving ? ” 

" Delpliine puts out our dresses, and the seamstress 
in tlic liouse does the rest. I do scav, just to make 
myself busy sometimes; and sometimes I arrange tlie 
draAving-room, though she says one of the servants 
could do it as Avell. Jack,” — Katey turned upon him 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


119 


suddenly, — how should you like to saw wood, for in- 
stance, simply for the sake of doing something, when 
no one wanted the wood ? ” 

^^Wouldn^tdo it,^' returned Jack. Then removing 
his cigar, But some one always does want the wood. 
You can give it away, you know.'’ 

“ Yes," assented Katey, slowly. And I could work 
for charity, I suppose. But — I can’t. I don’t feel 
called. I don’t know any poor people, and I don’t en- 
joy societies; I cannot attend meetings — women’s 
meetings, I mean. Perhaps I am wicked, but I want 
to laugh always. And as for holding an office — ’’ 

“ But some one is obliged to,’’ interrupted Del- 
phine, who was herself vice-president of a benevolent 
society. 

“ Yes, I know,’’ replied Katey, ^^but they enjoy it. 
They feel it a duty as well, but they like it. Indeed, 
that is one sign of a true caU to any work, I think ; 
and I haven’t it, Jack — I haven’t it at all.’’ And 
Katey, upon the hassock at his feet, clasped her hands 
around her knees in childish fashion, and turned so 
sorry a face to him with this confession, that Jack 
laughed aloud. The idea of Katey sitting gravely in 
committee, or presiding over a meeting of any kind, 
was too absurd to be considered. 

Delphine, however, viewed the matter more seri- 
ously. But you need not attend societies in order 
to exercise charity," she said. “ There is Janie Home, 
who visits regularly the families in the lower part of 
the village where she has gone to Jive ; sees that their 
houses and their families are neat, and — " 

“ What impertinence ! " exclaimed Katey. Think 
of walking into people’s houses without right or invita- 


120 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


tion, and advising in family affairs, simply because 
their doors are narrower and dirtier than ours ! 

Jack laughed again. 

“ It is so ; is it not ? Katey went on, appealing to 
him. “I took Delphine’s place one week last winter, 
and went with one of her friends down through the 
back streets of the town as a visiting committee. We 
were to ring each bell, and call upon every family if 
possible, find out if they attended church, and if their 
children were in Sunday school. I don’t know how 
the others proceeded, but I apologized at every door 
for the intrusion, and felt that it was only natural 
and just, when a tall, raw-boned woman barred our 
entrance to one house, and said, with a kind of enraged 
self-respect, ‘ An’ what if I don’t, miss ? ’ in answer to 
our question.” 

But you should not have done so,” said Mrs. Este- 
mere. I always make some excuse, or ask permission 
to go in. Then I speak to the children, give them 
candy, and if there is a pot of flowers or a print to 
ornament the room, notice that, and so gradually ap- 
proach the object of my visit.” 

But Delphine, dear, what if a stranger should walk 
into your drawing-room, admire Launce, feed him with 
chocolate- creams, which you know always make him 
ill, criticise your GerSme, comment upon the weather, 
and crown all with a modest hope that you were using 
these blessings without abusing them, and were fitting 
yourself for another and better world, saying that it 
was to express this hope she had called ! I am sure 
you would ask the servant to show her the door.” 

“ But that is difterent,” laughed Delphine. They 
do not often resent our visits.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


121 


Then they can have no self-respect/’ persisted 
Katey. 

Delphine shook her head. It may be so some- 
times/’ she said, “ but we often find poor, forlorn, 
broken-spirited creatures, who are only too glad to 
hear a kind word from any one.” 

Yes, perhaps so,” assented Katey, slowly, remem- 
bering at least one such experience of her own. 

I shall yet boast of my sister, who is laboring 
among the heathen,” laughed Jack, pinching Katey ’s 
ear. 

“ 0, never,” she replied, gravely. I am not good 
enough, and I am ashamed to say I do not feel drawn 
towards the heathen — that is, foreign heathen,” she 
added, remembering Dacre. I am only a little rest- 
less and proud,” she went on, with a laugh. I want 
to do something for myself So Robert and Delphine 
say I may try. I wrote you about the advertisement, 
and Robert went to La Fayette to see the school, and 
use his influence to gain the position for me. I am 
engaged to teach the younger children, and I go to- 
morrow,” she concluded, with a quick gasp, which 
might have been due to breathlessness after her hur- 
ried speech, or fright at the prospect so near. 

^^You are not fit to take care of yourself,” was 
Jack’s final comment. “You’ll do something foolish 
or unlieard of away off there.” 

“ 0, no,” said Katey, quickly. She was much more 
likely to do so if she remained here, she thought. 
What would he say if he knew about Dacre Home ? 
If she only dared tell him ! And yet, what was there 
to tell ? 

Delphine mentioned Dacre’s name casually as they 


122 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


were going out to tea. “ What is he doing here ? ” 
said Jack, sharply, making Katey’s heart cease to beat 
for the moment. 0, hoAv thankful she was that he had 
not come before ! Or did she wish that Delphine and 
she had never been left to themselves ? 

Josie Durant, who had staid to tea, gave her a sharp 
little glance as Jack uttered the question, to which no 
one replied. Launce, hanging upon his mother’s chair, 
would have spoken, but Delphine checked him. This 
was not the time to open the subject, she saw, and she 
let it pass. 

Katey felt Josie’s glance as she bent. over her plate. 
Josie’s clear little head had taken in everything, — 
Delphine’s scheme, Katey ’s doubt and hesitation, and 
surrender at last, — though there had been no confi- 
dence between Katey and herself. How could there 
be when there was no sympathy? Miss Durant had 
disapproved of it all from the first. She would have 
interfered if she had dared ; but she was not yet one 
of the family, and how could she set herself in oppo- 
sition to Delphine, or act the part of a tale-bearer, and 
write to Jack ? 

There was to be a gathering of their summer friends 
at the Durants’ that evening, too informal to be called 
a party, though there would be music and dancing, 
and Josie had offered to return and spend the night 
with Katey, who chafed against it all — this last even- 
ing ! And Dacre would not be at the party. All 
through the summer Miss Durant had quietly ignored 
him. He had received no invitation, Katey knew, and 
she had said nothing to him of the engagement for the 
evening. Should she see him again ? The train she 
was to take left at an early hour in the morning — 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


123 


almost at daybreak. Even if he came to the cot- 
tage to-night, it might be only to find her gone, or, 
more dreadful still, to meet Jack face to face. It was 
a relief to see Jack cross the lawn with Josie while 
she still lingered over her toilet. Delphine followed 
them presently. You will come over soon, I sup- 
pose,” she called to Katey ; I have promised Josie 
to help her arrange some flowers.” She had marked 
Katey ’s nervous manner, and divined something of the 
truth. She quaked inwardly, remembering the tone 
of Jack’s voice when she had mentioned Dacre’s name ; 
but it was too late to go back now. She would give 
them one more chance to meet, and she hastened over 
to the Durants’ cottage strong in the determination to 
keep Jack well employed for the next hour, so that he 
should have no opportunity to return for Katey. 


124 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XL 


pity’s akin to love. 


HE pale violet ribbons had been laid aside ; but 



Jl the scarlet geraniums in her hair were not more 
vivid than the red on Katey’s cheeky as she stood, 
fluttering and faint-hearted, just within the open win- 
dow, when they had all gone, listening to every step 
upon the gravel before the door. Perhaps he would 
not come. It would be better for her, she knew, if he 
never came again. A spasm of sense and reason had 
seized her in the midst of the excitement of the mo- 
ment. And yet she waited. 

He came at last. Slie ran down the stairs to meet 
him. He must not stay. It would not do for Jack to 
return and find him here — Jack, who was hot-headed 
and rash, and would say — she knew not what. Hacre 
had heard nothing of his arrival. She told him now, 
as they stood in the doorway, showing all her appre- 
hension in her face as she made the announcement, 
with a fearful glance over the way, where a soft light 
shone from the open windows through the closed 
shutters. The high, wide veranda was peopled with 
moving shadows already. The first strains of the 
music rose upon the still air, mingling with the gentle 
sweep and fall of the surf over the deserted sands. 

“ I must go,” Katey said, at last. “ There is com- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


125 


pany at the other house ; they will miss me/’ She 
offered no excuse for his having been left out. They 
had reached a point beyond conventionalities. 

He walked beside her, across to the other cottage. 
They passed the broad flight of steps leading up to the 
veranda, and reached the side door in silence. Katey 
held out her hand. It was to be like the parting of 
ordinary acquaintances, then ? What had she ex- 
pected ? What had she hoped for ? It was better 
so ; yet something in her throat choked the words she 
tried to say. All the past summer, bewildering and 
sweet, rose before her at that moment. Where would 
he go, from her, and to whom? She felt, as they 
stood that one instant with clasped hands in the soft 
darkness, the laughing voices coming out to them 
through the closed shutters, — they two alone — that, 
beyond the shadows enveloping them, an awful gulf 
yawned and waited for him. 0, if she could but 
hold him back ! 

He bent his head as she stood above him, and laid 
his cheek upon her hand. So like a boy he was I 
Would nobody try to save him ? 

It is only ^ good by,’ Katey ; ” and there was a 
strange, hoarse tone in his voice. “ I like you too 
well to say anything else. I ought to have gone be- 
fore ; I knew it all the time.” 

His lips touched her hand. Then she was alone. 

Dacre ! ” Her voice, shrill and sharp, rang out 
into the night. In a moment he was beside her. 0, 
where are you going ? What will become of you ? ” 

She liad forgotten tlie open windows. Some one 
pulled up a blind. “ I thought I heard a cry,” said 
a voice. He drew her into the shadow of the door- 


126 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


way as Josie Durant leaned out to listen. “ It is noth- 
ing/^ Miss Durant said, calmly, addressing some one 
behind her, and dropping the blind noisily. But Katey 
knew that she had seen them. 

There was a general movement within. It was only 
the cessation of the momentary stillness, but to Katey 
the voices drew near. They are coming ; I must 
go,’^ she exclaimed in a frightened whisper. 

He caught her in his arms. Katey ! Katey ! I 
shall come to you — I shall see you ! Then he was 
gone. 

The music had begun again when she entered the 
drawing-room. They were forming a set upon the 
veranda. Where did you hide yourself ? ’h asked 
Jack, leading her out ; or have you but just come? 
I was going over to look you up, but Delphine thought 
you must be here somewhere.’’ 

Fortunately there was a flourish of trumpets at this 
moment ; the dance had begun, and, in following its 
mazes, with a lugubrious air, droll to see. Jack — who 
still hated parties and everything pertaining to them 
— forgot his question. It was a long, tiresome even- 
ing to Katey, in spite of the music, the pleasant, softly- 
lighted rooms, and cheerful company. She stole away 
at last to the shelter of a deep window. Here, with her 
elbow upon the sill, her cheek in her hand, her face 
turned towards the sea, across which streamed a faint 
line of light from the white moon overhead, she 
dreamed her dream undistubed. Katey ! Katey ! ” 
she heard again, above the gay voices floating in upon 
her, above the huslied roar of the surf which filled 
in every pause. 0, she would trust him ! — forgetting 
that the truest trust is involuntary. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


127 


Josie sought her out. What are you doing here ? 
she said. “ Do try and rouse yourself, Katey. What 
will people think ? That strange gentleman has been 
staring at you for the last ten minutes.” 

Who is he ? ” and Katey forgot her momentary 
resentment at Josie’s tone, to stare in turn after the 
broad, square figure vanishing through the doorway. 
She had caught a glimpse of a red-brown beard, and 
a pair of deep-set gray eyes. Where had she seen them 
before ? Then she remembered. It was the gentle- 
man who had recognized Dacre Home upon the street 
that afternoon. 

I don’t know,” Josie answered, carelessly. Some 
friend of the Fosters, I believe. I have forgotten his 
name. But I must go ; I have to sing.” 

The Fosters were already making their adieus when 
they returned to the drawing-room. Once more Katey 
felt the searching eyes fixed upon her, as their owner, 
behind Mrs. Foster’s broad shoulders, awaited his 
turn. It almost seemed as though he would speak to 
her. A shadow of irresolution crossed his face; he 
turned to Miss Durant ; but Katey had moved away, 
something very hot and fierce rising within her at 
the recollection of the scowl he had bestowed upon 
Dacre. When she looked again the whole party had 
left the room. 

Jack took her home before the company finally 
broke up, and Delphine soon followed. Josie came 
later, mounting the stairs with a slow step, which 
set Katey’s heart to beating with apprehension. She 
had watched the lights go out over the way after 
the last guest had departed. She had seen the 
musicians with their queer, distorted burdens, steal 


128 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


out like robbers, and vanish ‘ among the trees. Even 
Jack had crossed the lawn, and the odor of his cigar 
came up to her now from below. She had watched 
them all through the parted curtains, hoping, yet 
hardly daring to hope, that Josie would not come, 
after all. But Josie, it seemed, had only lingered to 
make some change in her dress. She came in now, 
as Katey stood before the glass brushing out her 
hair, a little white sacque tied by the sleeves loosely 
about her neck,, her arms, with their pretty cream 
tint, bare and raised above her head, as she went on 
without turning from the glass, shaking out the lieavy 
braids into shining waves, which fell over her shoul- 
ders and about her face. 

“ Well, Katey ? ’’ and Josie threw back the little 
shawl wrapped around her, and settled hersell in an 
arm-chair with a judicial air. She did not intend to 
appear severe ; she even tried to make her tone gentle 
and conciliatory ; but she had failed, she knew as soon 
as the words passed her lips. 

Is it about Dacre ? ’’ Katey’s eyes were very 
bright and full as she faced her friend. 

“ Or say for thee I’ll die — or say for thee I’ll die ! ” 

sang some half- drunken reveller, strolling up from the 
cliff. I can’t tell you,” she Avent on ; don’t ask me, 
please.” She had made up her mind Avhile Josie 
was slowly mounting the stairs. She could not deny 
what her friend had seen with her oAvn eyes, and yet 
what Avas there to acknoAvledge ? 

0, very well,” Josie replied, coldly. ‘‘ Of course I 
don’t Avish to force your confidence.” 

But don’t look at me so,” cried poor Katey, who 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


120 


desired, like the most of us, to be trusted, even though 
blindly. She stooped suddenly, and kissed lier friend. 
But Miss Durant had little appreciation of enigmas, 
and none whatever of impulsive ways. Her gentle 
emotions were all reducible, and could be explained 
upon fixed principles. I don’t understand you ; ” and 
she moved away from Katey’s caress, speaking as 
though it were a matter of surprise that she did not, 
the surprise always awakened in people by new 
developments in the friends they have weighed and 
passed judgment upon, — a surprise not unmingled 
with displeasure, as though an unfair advantage had 
been taken of them by these untimely revelations. 
But Katey did not think it strange. She by no 
means understood herself. Her mind, so far, seemed 
made up of questions which later years would, per- 
haps, answer. 

I tliink you might trust me,” she said, slowly. 

“Wliy, how can I when you tell me nothing?” 
exclaimed Miss Durant. 

That wouldn’t be trusting ; that would be know- 
ing,” Katey replied. Tlien she went on brushing out 
her hair, and preparing for the night, and nothing- 
more was said. She wondered if Josie would tell 
Jack; but she would not ask. To do so would 
appear as though she were afraid or ashamed. 

The next morning, wlien she leaned out from the 
window of the railway car to exchange last words 
with her friends, her eyes were searching the dusky 
length of the great, dark station, imagining every 
dimly-defined form to be that of Dacre. He might 
be very near, if she did but know it. He might even 
ho in the seat before her. For in the darkness no 
9 


130 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


one could recognize his neighbor, and the shooting out 
of the train presently into the light of day would be 
like unmasking at a ball. It was a dull, wet day. 
The rain dripped outside and overhead upon the dingy 
panes of glass far up in the mammoth roof She 
could not hear it for the shrieking of the trains and 
the hurried tread of passing feet; but the figures 
huddled together in the dim light, half hidden by 
the cloud of smoke and vapor, which, settling down, 
added to the gloom of the place, were wrapped 
against the chill and wet out of all individualty. 

Katey watched them with something more than 
idle curiosity as they darted hither and thither, 
pressing in turn close to the windows ol the car, 
discerning friends by some subtle intuition, rather 
than by the exercise of the outward senses ; then, 
falling back, to stand motionless, a solid phalanx, as 
the train moved slowly out and away. There were 
a few dim lights burning through the cars ; some 
liad flickered and gone out ; but one still slione 
brightly over Katey’s head, bringing out, like a pic- 
ture in strong colors, tlie slight figure bent towards 
tlie window, wrapped in a little bright shawl, the 
mass of dark hair pushed back, the absorbed, question- 
ing eyes ; and it threw a line of light across the 
faces being left slowly behind, making strange, un- 
expected revelations in the countenances whose own- 
ers believed them hidden still by the darkness — 
the inner thought creeping out. And there were 
people who had bade their friends adieu in mock 
sorrow, being really glad for them to go, and the 
gladness showed now. And there was a lover, who 
had not dared say all he wished to his mistress at 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


131 


parting ; but she might read it in his face now if she 
would only look. And there were sorrow, and dis- 
appointment, and even anger, if Katey could have 
read them all. But she searched for Dacre alone. 
He was not there, nor in the train when they had 
moved out into the dull daylight, and Avere speed- 
ing on their Avay. She was doubly sure Avhen an 
hour had passed, and still he did not appear ; and Avith 
a sense, if not of relief, at least of cessation of the 
strain of eager, painful expectation, she curled her- 
self into the corner of the seat slie sliarcd Avith no 
one, and prepared to take the rest she needed so 
greatly. She miglit doze through all the long day, 
if she chose ; it Avould bo late in the afternoon be- 
fore they reached the junction Avhere she Avas to 
change cars for La Fayette. So, with every tense 
nerve relaxed, and her cheek pillowed upon the 
little red shaAvl, she sank into a profound sleep. 


132 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XII. 

NEW ACQUAINTANCES. 

S HE awoke after an hour or two, rested and re- 
freslied, and, still lying back in her corner, began 
to scan the passengers within the range of her vision 
witli the curious eyes of one who has seen little of 
the world. They were all uninteresting, even to her 
active fancy, with the exception of a party just before 
her, and a jimber-jawed woman in a black bonnet, 
over the way, who had come from New Hampshire 
alone, and was pouring the story of her troubles in re- 
gard to some error in her ticket, as well as various 
side issues, into the sympathizing ear of a question- 
able-looking young man, who occupied tlie seat before 
her. Various bits of this confidence floated into Katey’s 
ears, as well as the amused Just so, just so, ma’am,’’ 
of the 3 ^oung man. The Avoman had a flurried, ner- 
vous manner, and grasped Avith both hands a very 
large paper ])arcel lying in her lap ; but though her 
story Avent on, in a shrill, penetrating voice, Avithout 
cessation, she yet eyes had and ears for ever^Thing 
alx)ut her, and was constantly being overcome Avith 
gratitude for what she considered personal favors. 

No, 1 thank you, my dear ; ” to the itinerant ice- 
water boy. But how very kind it was of him to think 
of it ! ” she soliloquized. She apologized to the vender 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


133 


of books for not buying his wares, assuring him that 
they looked very pretty, but, you see, 1 don’t find 
much time to read, any way, and I expect to be 
tolerably busy where I am going.” She exhausted the 
patience of the meek-faced conductor by her repeated 
questions, assuring him, at the end of each colloquy, 
that she had travelled all the way from New Hamp- 
shire alone. There came a change, however; the 
meek-faced conductor disappeared at some cross-road, 
and an official of enormous proportions and a decidedly 
military air took his place. He slammed the door 
after him, as he entered the car, with the mildness of a 
clap of thunder. He ejaculated, Tickets ! ” like a 
startling sneeze. Every sleepy eye opened wide. 
Every hand involuntarily grasped its bit of pasteboard, 
offering it abjectly at his approach. Not so tlie jimber- 
jawed woman. She raised her voice above the noise 
of the train as he drew near, and began her story : — 

“ IVe come all the way from — ” 

He seized her ticket, gave it a violent and vicious 
punch, thrust it into her liand again, and was half 
way down the aisle before she had succeeded in utter- 
ing, New Hampshire.” 

Well ! ” She stared after liim in a bewildered way, 
straightening the black bonnet, Avliicli had become dis- 
placed as though it had shrunk back of its own ac- 
cord at the approach of this awful personage. But 
she was neither discouraged nor dismayed. Slie bided 
her time. He came again. There was a perceptible 
hush throughout the car, a spasmodic clutching of 
tickets at that resounding slam of the door. Then the 
jimber-jawed woman rose and leaned forward, a feeble 
simper called up by some instinct of feminine con- 


134 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


sciousness spreading over her countenance. “ Snap, 
snap : ” the Great Mogul drew near. She opened her 
mouth as he turned towards her with an outstretched, 
impatient hand. IVe come all the way — ” Sud- 
denly he seemed to swell and fill the place. His face 
was awful to contemplate. He raised one finger. 
“ Sit down ! he ejaculated, in a voice of thunder ; and 
a confused heap of black bonnet and brown paper 
parcel dropped speechless upon the seat. The jimber- 
jawed woman was conscious of the real presence at 
last. 

There was a hastily suppressed laugh just before 
her, and Katey, turning her face quickly, was struck 
by a pair of bright eyes, as well as by the odd appear- 
ance of the whole party, who had, from the first, at- 
tracted her attention, and aroused her curiosity. 

They were four in all ; a father, son, and two 
daughters, she judged, from a certain resemblance 
among them. There was a similarity as well in 
their rather fantastic attire ,* in which short, braided 
jackets and knee-breeches upon the men, with deep, 
pointed collars and a profusion of flowing hair, were 
most conspicuous. The costume of the two girls — 
one of whom was extremely delicate in appearance — 
was not less singular. Their bright blue jackets were 
more elaborately braided than were those of their 
father and brother, which were of a coarser fabric. 
Their short black petticoats just revealed the neat lit- 
tle boots, oddly laced over bright red stockings, and 
their long, abundant hair was braided, and hung down 
in a simple fashion, obsolete enough to have been re- 
marked a dozen years ago. 

The whole party wore queer, high-pointed hats, 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


135 


from each of which hung a variegated cord and tassel, 
and attracted naturally not a little attention. The 
dreadful conductor alone gave them no second glance. 

There was something singularly open and winning 
in tlieir faces, especially in that of the sick girl, who 
had removed her hat, and lay back upon a pillow im- 
provised from cloaks and wraps, tenderly, almost anx- 
iously, watched over by the others. 

Katey wondered at their strange appearance. Who 
and what were they ? Play-actors, perhaps ; but cer- 
tainly no play-actors ever travelled about in so strange 
a garb. Her curiosity increased as the day wore 
away and they neared the junction where she was to 
change cars and leave her odd companions. But -no ; 
they, too, were gathering up wraps and parcels as the 
last station before the junction was passed. There 
was a movement throughout the car — the rising and 
stretching of benumbed forms, the hasty gathering of 
detached belongings, the bustle of near departure or 
change ; even the jimbered-jawed woman had re- 
covered speech again, and Katey had folded the little 
red shawl over her arm, and replaced the book in her 
satchel, which she had been too idle to read, when all 
at once there came a strange, jarring shock, throwing 
those already upon their feet to their seats again, fol- 
lowed by what would have been utter suspension of 
sound or motion but for the exclamations and confusion 
suddenly awakened. Katey, recovering herself as the 
crowd pressed by, spoke aloud involuntarily : ‘‘ 0, what 
is it ? What has happened ? ’’ 

‘‘ There is no occasion for alarm.’’ 

It was the little old gentleman in the high-pointed 
hat who answered her. He was raising the sick girl 


136 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


in his arms. He bore her out, followed by the others 
of the family, with whom Katey found herself 

She has fainted,’’ he said, laying his charge down 
tenderly in the shadow of the high bank beside the 
road. But even as he spoke the sick girl opened her 
eyes and smiled upon Katey, who was bending over 
her. It is nothing ; do not be alarmed,” she said, 
in a gentle voice, which quite won Katey’s heart. 

The young man of the odd party had followed the 
crowd up the road. He came back now to say that 
there had been a slight accident, which would probably 
detain them for an hour or two, or until assistance 
should arrive from the junction. 

‘‘We are to stop there,” volunteered the bright- 
eyed girl, who was holding her sister’s hands in her 
own. 

“ Yes ; we sing there to-night,” the little old gen- 
tleman added. 

“ 0,” Katey said, wondering more and more, espe- 
cially as a dim recollection or some fancied resem- 
blance flitted through her mind, making all at once 
the strange company strangely familiar. She sat down 
beside the two girls, to await the tardy progress of 
events and the slow process of deliverance. This 
moment of fright and mutual helpfulness had drawn 
them together as such times will the most incongruous 
elements, until when the train, having arrived at last 
from the junction, moved off, she still formed one of 
the odd group who would, at another time, have at- 
tracted no little attention, but were now scarcely 
noticed in the general excitement. 

“ You will pardon me, young lady,” said the little 
old gentleman, with quaint formality, “ for not having 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


137 


properly introduced myself and my family ; but the oc- 
casion is unusual, to say the least,” — to which Katey 
assented. 

These are my children,” he went on, with the air 
of presenting them to an audience ; indeed, there was 
something histrionic in all the little old gentleman’s 
speech and manner, as though he had been accustomed 
to bestow much care upon both. 

Katey murmured something of having imagined as 
much, as an affectionate smile was exchanged between 
the father and his family. 

‘‘ You recognize us, perhaps ? ” 

She was obliged to own that she did not. 

Ah ! ” said the little old man, with an air of aston- 
ishment. Then opening his arms as though by this 
gesture he were revealing himself to the world, We 
are the Hauser family ! ” 

If the little old man had announced his party as the 
lost Ten Tribes, or the last of the Huggermuggers, he 
could not have displayed a prouder or more self-satis- 
fied countenance. 

A light burst upon Katey’s mind. She had seen 
the name in staring letters, and even the oddly- cos- 
tumed figures pictured upon posters in the town where 
Delphine resided, though their simple programme had 
tempted neither Delphine nor herself to hear them. 

‘‘ 0, yes ; I remember now,” she said, really inter- 
ested ; but I have never heard you sing.” 

“No?” The surprise in the little old man’s face 
made his eyes for the moment quite round. He 
hastily searched in his pockets, and brought out at 
last a package of tickets, soiled and broken ; choosing 
the most presentable, he gave it into Katey’s hand. 


138 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“ That will admit you and a friend. Yes/’ examining 
it carefully to see that there was no mistake, you and 
a friend to any concert we may chance to give at any 
time in your life in any city of the world.” 

Katey hesitated about placing herself under so tre- 
mendous an obligation. But the little old man insisted. 

Perhaps you will favor our poor performance with 
your presence this evening, if you remain at the junc- 
tion.” 

0, thank you ; ” she replied, I should be happy to 
do so; but I shall not stay there- — that is, I don’t 
know what I am to do. My name is Earle — Kathe- 
rine Earle,” she added, remembering that she had 
failed to accomplish her part of the introduction, and 
I was to have gone on to La Fayette to-night. Do 
you think I have missed the train ? ” 

‘‘ I should say so, certainly ; ” and at that moment 
the train rushed into the station. Immediately all was 
confusion about them. I am sure I don’t know what 
I can do,” began Katey, bewildered. 

There was a whispered consultation among her 
new friends. At least I must leave the cars,” she 
thought, gathering up her belongings. Some one 
touched her arm. It was the little old man. “ If you 
would come with us, if you would not mind the — the 
publicity which naturally attends our movements, we 
could show you an inn close by ; not the finest one in 
the village, but perfectly respectable and neat. We 
have been there often before. The host and hostess 
are old friends. You hesitate? That is quite right; 
it is not safe to trust a stranger, as I tell my 
daughters.” 

“ But she may trust yoii^^ said the bright-eyed girl. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


139 


warmly, while Katey tried to protest that it was not 
from distrust she had hesitated. 

''How does she know it?'Maughed the little old 
man. " And, first, you wish to find out about your 
train. Suppose you go into the station and inquire 
for yourself. That will be most satisfactory. The 
ticket-master will tell you ; and you can ask about the 
Lion Inn at the same time. We will wait for you ; or, 
since Christine is so weak and tired, 1 will go on with 
her, and Mina and Wulf will stay here until you re- 
turn j ’’ and the kind little old gentleman moved off 
slowly with the sick girl. 

Katey acted upon his suggestion, and found that 
the train for La Fayette had indeed gone. There 
would be no other until midnight ; and when the ticket- 
agent had also corroborated the statement in regard 
to the Lion Inn, which was kept, he said, by a German 
family, but was neat and well spoken of, she decided 
to remain in the village until morning. It would cer- 
tainly be preferable to reaching La Fayette at day- 
break, with the chance of not being expected at that 
hour. 

So she crossed the open " green,^' or grassy square 
of the village, with her odd companions, to the low 
inn, with its encircling piazza, and a flaming sign of a 
ferocious lion swinging before the door. The piazza, 
and even the hall, with its combined odors of smoke, 
and beer, and departed dinners, seemed quite deserted ; 
but bright-eyed Mina pushed on to a door at the end 
of the passage opening into what seemed to be the 
family room, where a very old lady sat knitting in one 
corner, while a couple of little girls, with their thick, 
dark locks braided tightly, and bound around their 


140 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


heads, played upon the floor at her feet. They sprang 
up with an exclamation at sight of Mina, and laised 
their rosy faces to kiss her warmly. Even the old 
lady rose smiling to greet her. And how do you do, 
Wulf ? to the flaxen-haired young man, who seemed 
stift* and constrained in Katey’s presence. Then she 
looked inquiringly at Katey. 

“ It is a young lady who was going on to La Fay- 
ette ; the accident detained her. But where is Mrs. 
Sheppart, and what has become of Christine ? ’’ 

You will find them in the great front room,” the 
old lady replied. Poor Christine seems quite feeble.” 

She is not well ; ” and Mina’s face was clouded for a 
moment. “ And the fright to-day has made her more 
ill than usual. I think we will go and find her,” she 
added, to Katey. 

Christine was lying upon the great high-posted bed 
in the long, low, and rather barely furnished chamber 
to which they had been directed, while the hostess, 
a smiling, black-eyed woman, with her shining hair 
braided and tightly wound around her head like that 
of her little daughters, moved about the room, closing 
the shutters, re-arranging and dusting the furniture, 
with a bustling, cheerful air. “ 0, Mina ! ” she ex- 
claimed, as the door opened, coming forward and hold- 
ing out her round, smooth cheeks for Mina’s hearty 
kisses. And this is the young lady Christine has 
been telling me of ; ” her manner changing at sight of 
Katey ’s tall and rather stately figure. We will try 
to make you comfortable, miss, but the house is likely 
to be full — ” She hesitated. Katey was evidently 
out of the line of her usual patrons. 

‘‘ I am sure I shall be comfortable,” Katey hastened 
to say. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


141 


I may have to put up a cot for you here.” Mina 
looked at Katey, who glanced towards Christine. 

0, it will not annoy Christine — will it, dear ? ” 
Mina said, quickly. 

Christine smiled and shook lier head. 

Then I should much prefer it,” said Katey. 

“ It would be so much nicer to be together ! ” added 
Mina, removing her hat, shaking the dust from her 
skirts, and performing a pirouette. 

“ Come, come,” interrupted Mrs. Sheppart, seizing 
Mina in her arms. Christine must go to sleep, or 
she will be fit for nothing this evening. Perhaps you 
and the young lady would come down to the parlor. 
I will open it for you ; ” and with one last motherly 
arranging of the sick girl’s pillows, she left the room. 

Mina and Katey followed her to the little parlor at 
the foot of the stairs, with its staring ingrain carpet, 
and line of stiff, black chairs ranged against the wall. 
Katey consigned herself to the cold charities of the 
hair-cloth sofa, while Mina pushed open the shutters, 
and let the light strike upon the great portraits cover- 
ing the walls. There were the inn-keeper, his two 
sons, his wife, his wife’s mother, and the two little 
girls, all staring down from very dark, wide, wooden 
frames, and very dark, gloomy backgrounds, out of 
exceedingly surprised eyes. The women, portrayed 
in very tight black silk dresses, had a nipped, shrunken 
appearance, which was quite made up, however, by 
that of the men, who seemed, in their fullness, liable, 
at any moment, to burst from the canvas, and step 
down in their own proper persons. The effect, when 
the light was let into the room, was as though the 
place had been suddenly peopled. 


142 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“Yes/’ said Mina, watching Katey’s startled face; 
“ it is as if they had all rushed to a funeral ; is it not ? 
But I never tell Mrs. Sheppart so. She likes tiiem. 
They were painted by an artist who staid here one 
summer — to pay his hill, I think. But this is best of 
all.” She opened a door at the farther end of the 
room, put her head out cautiously, and then beckoned 
to Katey. “ The men have not come back,” she said, 
leading the way into the bar-room. A kitchen-maid 
had been left in temporary charge of the place. She 
was leaning across the bar so as to bring her eyes 
within range of the open door. At their appearance 
she began vigorously to polish a glass with her apron. 
Over her head hung the picture. The face was tliat 
of the host, round, rubicund, overflowing with good 
nature, his head surmounted by a gilded crown, a 
crimson robe, edged with ermine, covering his shoul- 
ders, and in his hand, not a sceptre, but a brimming, 
foaming glass of ale, 

“ Old King Cole ! ” exclaimed Katey. 

“ But it is much more like Mr. Sheppart than the 
one in the parlor,” said Mina. 

There was the grinding of heavy feet upon the piazza 
outside, and the girls retreated hastily. The hostess 
was just entering the little parlor from the other door. 

“ I thought, perliaps, you would prefer to take your 
tea by yourselves,” she said. “ You will have more 
time to dress,” she added to Mina. “ So you may 
come out now.” 

“ That will be nice ; thank you,” said Mina. “ 1 
don’t mind, of course ; I have been here so many 
times,” she went on, as Mrs. Sheppart hastened away, 
leaving them to follow more leisurely. “ And then I 


ICA THERINE EARLE, 143 

know the family. But you are not accustomed to be 
stared at.’’ 

And are you ? ” Katey was amused at the girl’s 
frank manner of speech. 

Mina laughed. 0, yes ; I have sung and travelled 
about from one place to another ever since I can re- 
member. You don’t mind if the sticks and stones in 
the street stare at you? ” 

No ; but one does not credit them with eyes.” 

Nor do people seem to have eyes after a time. 
You don’t think anything about it. You don’t care for 
them at all ; ” and then Mina led the way to the dining- 
room. 


144 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

CAP AND BELLS. 

T he sick girl did not come down to tea ; and after 
a consultation by her bedside, her fatlier and 
brother decided that she was quite unfit to take part in 
the evening’s entertainment. 

It is too bad,” said Mina, when, a little later, slie 
and Katey had returned to the chamber. Mina was 
sitting upon the floor before a small trunk, which had 
evidently seen good service, shaking out a little red 
skirt, in which she was to appear at the concert. “ I 
would sing all your songs if you would only go ; but 
you cannot, I know,” she added, with a sigh, as slie 
laid back in the trunk the duplicate of the red petti- 
coat. 

She was silent and thoughtful as she braided lier 
smooth, dark hair anew, tying the thick plaits witli 
scarlet ribbons ; then suddenly slie turned to Katey : 
“ But you might go in Christine’s place.” 

Katey shrank back from leaning upon Alina’s dress- 
ing table and watching the deft fingers. 

Don’t say that you won’t,” Mina went on; “you 
need not sing. You could wear Christine’s dross, and 
we never take off our hats. You have no friends here 
to recognize you ; and what if you had ? ” she added, 
proudly. “ You could stand back a little when we all 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


145 


rise together; and 0, I should be so glad not to gi 
alone with father and Wulf ! I believe, after all, I 
should mind being stared at with Christine not beside 
me.” 

Katey was startled by the proposition, wliicli, at the 
first moment, appeared too absurd to be entertained. 
But as Mina used every argument in her power, she 
began at last to waver, moved more by what liad been 
left unsaid, perhaps, than by Mina’s warm pleading. 
She was indebted to these strange friends of an lu)ur, 
without wliom she hardly knew where slie should liave 
been now, so little confidence in herself, and so little 
experience in travelling, did she possess. She would 
gladly oblige bright-eyed Mina, it she could; and it 
was true that no one who had ever known her could, 
by any chance, bo found in tiie audience. Her friends 
and accpiaintances were not many, nor were they given 
to wandering ; it would be an odd coincidence in- 
deed that should bring them here this night. Dacre 
might follow her to La Fayette ; but lie was not upon 
the train which had brought her here, or he would have 
appeared to her before now. The little red skirt, the 
laced black bodice, the dainty Avhite chemisette which 
Christine Avas to have worn, Avould fit her form as 
well, and perhaps the spice of adventure in the plan, 
Avhen it Avas once entertained, brought a certain chai-m 
and intoxication of its OAvn. Such an innocent bit of 
masquerading as it Avould be ! Only, Iioav could she 
ever face the staring eyes ! 

I could not stand before the people,” she said, 
hesitatingly. 

‘'You will not think of them at all,” Mina an- 
swered, in a gay tone, sure that her point was 
10 


146 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


gained. I will hide you ; and, indeed, as I am to 
sing all the songs, you must not be surprised if I take 
all the attention and applause to myself,” she added, 
with a laugh. 

I hope so, indeed,” Katey answered, warmly. 

She unbound her hair at Mina’s suggestion, and 
began to plait it into braids, while the latter ran down 
to find her father and Wulf, without whose approval, 
of course, the scheme was not to be thought of They 
were only too glad of this unexpected addition to 
their small company, and the dressing for the part 
went on in the long, low chamber, Christine an inter- 
ested and delighted spectator. The black bodice was 
laced snugly to the round figure, the red petticoat al- 
lowed the shapely feet to be seen, and Mina crowned 
the whole with the high- pointed hat, around which she 
had knotted a gilt cord. 

Look, Christine ! ” cried Mina ; and Christine 
laughed and praised the transformed figure, Avhile 
Mina danced and clapped her hands, ending the per- 
formance with a hearty kiss upon each of Katey’s 
dark, flushed cheeks. You were a grand young lady 
before,” she said, “ but you are one of us now ; ” and 
with that change of individuality which seems often 
to accompany a change of costume, making it compar- 
atively easy to act a part when one is dressed for it, 
Katey felt that she was indeed, for the time, a part of 
the odd family. What would Jack say to it all ? she 
thought, as she followed Mina, at last, to tlie little 
parlor. 

“You are not really Swiss ? ” she said, when they 
had closed the door and sat down to wait for the little 
old man and his son, who wore still at the supper table. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


m 

If she were one of the family, it behooved her to know 
something of its antecedents. 

Father and mother were born in Switzerland,” 
Mina replied, “ in a village not far from Lake Con- 
stance. They came to this country soon after they 
were married. Father hurt his arm, and could not 
work, when Wulf was a baby ; so he tried to sing for a 
living. It was all he could do ; and mother had a won- 
derful voice, they say, though I never heard it, for she 
died when I was born. They sang in the street at 
first, but the people all seemed too hurried and busy 
to stop and listen ; so, after a time, when they had 
earned a little money by different ways, they ventured 
to give a concert in the public hall of some country 
town. Father had learned American ways by this 
time, and he had some bills printed, with a picture 
upon them of himself in the Tyrolese dress, with snow- 
covered mountains behind him, and holding a long 
Alpine horn in his hand. Not that he was from the 
Tyrol at all ; but the costume is striking, and it cer- 
tainly was effective, for the hall was full, and the con- 
cert a great success. Mother, too, wore the strange 
dress, and even Wulf, when he was old enough to ap- 
pear, and then Christine and I.” 

‘‘ It is very striking, as you say,” ventured Katey, 
“ and for that reason I should think you would prefer 
to wear it only when you sing.” 

So we should,” Mina replied ; “ but don’t you see, 
if we dressed like every one else, people would never 
come to hear us ; we don’t sing well enough — no one 
of us, at least, except Christine, sings well enough to 
attract them. It is because we look always and every- 
where strange, and not like themselves at all, that the 


148 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


people in the round of places where we go have a 
kind of curiosity and interest in us, which does much 
to draw them to our concerts, I am sure. And wo 
don’t feel that we are deceiving them, because deep 
down in our hearts we are Swiss, — even Wulf, and 
Christine, and I, who were never in Switzerland. Do 
you know,” — and the face of the girl kindled and 
glowed, — when Christine and I stand up before the 
people, and sing, as we do so many times, a little 
old song beginning, — 

‘ I’ve left the snow-clad hills, 

Where my father’s cot doth stand, 

My own, my dear, my native home. 

For a foreign land,’ — 

when we look sadly into each other’s eyes, as father 
taught us to do when we were little children, often 
and often the tears have come to mine. I see it all 
before me — the cottage where my mother was born, 
with the vines growing over it ; the sloping green hills 
descending to the valley, where shone a little lake ; 
the mountains beyond, with their white faces laid 
against heaven. And I hear, 0, above the song we 
are singing, the tinkle of the bells as the goats come 
slowly home, in the twilight, to the milking. I may 
never see it ; but, if I could follow the- path up the 
valley from the village, I should know the place, I am 
sure.” 

She was silent for a moment, and lost in her dream; 
then she came back to Katey’s words. 

‘‘We did try it once. When Christine grew to be a 
young lady, she was ashamed of the dress which 
strangers stared at ; so, to please her, father allowed 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


149 


us to lay it aside. But our concerts were poorly 
attended ; still, for Christine’s sake he persisted. 
He found a blind man who played the guitar, and 
hired him to join us, thinking he might attract the 
public.” 

And did he ? ” asked Katey. 

No ; for the guitar could never be heard beyond 
the fifth row of seats, unless it snapped a string; and 
he might as well not have been blind for all the benefit 
it was to us ; nobody would believe it. He rolled his 
eyes and stared at the audience, and winked and 
turned his head in the most provoking way, consid- 
ering the care and expense he was to us. Father 
tried to persuade him to shut his eyes, and offered to 
buy him a dog, to lead him by a string, to convince 
people ; but he w ouldn’t listen to it at all. He went on 
with his ridiculous antics, and all the time finding fault 
that we did not pay him more, when we were earning 
hardly enough to put bread into our mouths, until we 
were glad to be rid of him. Then the proprietor of 
a monkey show wanted to hire us to go about with 
that ; but, though his offer was a very good one, father 
would not accept it. Some time before this, Wulf had 
an opportunity to take lessons upon the bass-viol. 
It was wonderful to hear him,” she added, with sis- 
terly pride ; but, though he had learned to play well 
enough to perform in public, a bass-viol alone wouldn’t 
attract an audience — would it ? ” 

Katey felt hardly competent to judge ; stiU, she 
thought it would not. 

So he left us, to play in the orchestra of a theatre 
that winter,” Mina went on, and Christine had a very 
good offer to travel with a Bible panorama. She had 


150 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


only to wear a plain white dress, let her hair down, 
and sing solemn pieces while they were moving it 
along. I believe that Bible panorama never had such 
a success before or since. Still father was sorry after- 
wards that he consented to her going.’’ 

Mina’s words had fairly overlapped each other in the 
eagerness of her recital ; now she hesitated. 

But I will tell you,” she continued, because it 
troubled us all, and because I like you. I never had 
a girl friend before ; we stay so short a time in any 
place, and father is so careful about our making ac- 
quaintances. Perhaps you don’t wish me to reckon 
you as a friend ? *’ 

Mina blushed, and searched Katey’s face with shy 
anxiety. 

0, yes, I do. I do, indeed,” Katey answered, 
warmly. “ And I am glad to know of your life, if you 
will tell me.” 

Well,” Mina went on, winter was coming, and 
we had none of us any engagement except Wulf, 
and his earnings would not support us all, when 
Christine had, unexpectedly, this good offer. Father 
inquired, and found that the man who owned the 
Bible panorama was very respectable, and his wife 
was to travel with him ; so, although we had never 
been separated before, and he could hardly make up 
his mind to it now, he consented at last to let her go. 
And she has never been herself since.” 

Mina paused to brush the tears out of her eyes be- 
fore she went on. 

She was always sweet-faced, was Christine.” 

And so she is now,” said Katey. 

‘‘ Yes ; but she was rosier, brighter, then ; and yet 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


151 


there was something in her eyes, not like a pain, but 
as though you could imagine how they would look if 
ever the pain came. I saw her the first night she ap- 
peared with the panorama ; and when she stood there, 
the walls and towers of Jerusalem rising behind her, 
with her long, fair hair falling about her shoulders, lier 
hands crossed upon the bosom of the white gown, and 
her eyes gazing away beyond us while she sang, I 
sobbed so that father had to take me out. It seemed 
as though it were the new Jerusalem, and slie a saint 
in glory. She sang all that winter in one place and 
another. She had always a sweet voice, with a tone 
in it like the look in her eyes. We used to liear from 
her often, and see her occasionally, and she seemed 
briglit and happy. But when the spring came, and she 
returned to us, there was a change. For a long time 
we did not know what it was, only there was a change. 
After a time it all came out ; for Christine could never 
hide anything in her soul from us. It seemed a young 
man had followed her, through the winter, from place 
to place, until lie stole her heart. Yes, stole it,'’ Mina 
repeated, excitedly, for he never came boldly to our 
father, as he ought to have done ; he never came to 
him at all until long after her return, when he found he 
could see her in no other way. Where he ever saw her 
first I can't think, for he was not the kind of a young 
man one would expect to follow a Bible panorama. 
He would have married her then, — that was last 
spring, — but father would not consent to it. We 
knew nothing of him. He seemed to have money in 
abundance, and boasted of his family ; but who could 
tell the truth of his stories? And yet he had such a 
way of winning your liking, that an angel in heaven 


152 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


could hardly have stood out against him long, and even 
fatlier got to believe in him at last, and consented to 
their being married after a year, if he would go away 
and prove himself worthy of her in that time, — for he 
acknowledged, quite frankly, that he had led an idle 
life, not altogether blameless, until he knew Christine. 
So, when he found father’s resolution was not to be 
sliaken, he went away. At first he wrote often, but 
lately she has heard nothing at all from him, and is ill, 
as you see, from anxiety. She fears he may be sick, but 
we think it much more likely that he has ceased to 
care for her. Some other pretty face, perhaps, has 
caught his fancy.” 

Katey was silent. She was thinking of her own 
experience — of Dacre. What if he should never 
come again ? But he would, she knew. It is very 
sad,” she said. Poor Christine ! ” And then the little 
old man and his tall son appeared at the parlor door. 
Mina rose hastily. 

“ Is it time to go ? ” 

Not yet ; but Hans is in the ball-room, waiting to 
play, if you will come up. Ah, my dear young lady ! ” 
catching a glimpse of Katey, who had retreated behind 
Mina’s chair, suddenly conscious of her unusual ap- 
pearance. 

Is she not the prettiest Swiss maiden in the 
world?” cried Mina, dragging her forward, until her 
dark flushed cheeks and downcast eyes were revealed 
by tlie light from the hanging lamp in the hall. 

‘‘ The costume is certainly very becoming,” said the 
little old man ; and we are extremely obliged for 
your kindness,” he added, with a droll little flourish- 


Katherine earle. 


153 


ing bow. Now we liad better go up to Hans : we 
have no time to lose.’’ 

‘‘ But who is Hans ? ” asked Katey, as the two girls 
ascended the stairs. 

“ 0, he is Mrs. Sheppart’s eldest son,” Mina replied, 
with affected carelessness, ill suited to the blush which 
rose to her face with the words. 


154 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTEE XIY. 

‘^HOW LIKE you THIS PLAY ? 

HE great ball-room was imlighted, save by a couple 



of flaring candles at the upper end, where there 
was a raised stand for the musicians who led the dance 
upon festive occasions. To-night it Avas occupied by 
a slender, fair-haired young man, Avhose mild counte- 
nance, illuminated by the rays from the candles, dis- 
played a variety of changes in expression as the party, 
led by pretty Mina, entered the room. A stout man, 
Avith a florid face and a generally inflated appearance, 
Avhom Katey recognized as the original of the King 
Cole in the bar-room, noAv stepped forAvard to snufi' 
the candles Avith a business-like air, while the young 
man, descending aAvkAvardly from his perch, Avhere he 
had been tuning a violin, greeted Mina shyly, and 
boAved to Katey, Avith a sudden drawing together of 
his feet, and a spring-like bend of the back — a boAv 
evidently learned for an occasion ; but Katey by this 
time had become accustomed to being greeted as 
though she were an audience. 

Noav, Hans,” said the stout man, briskly, when he 
too had spoken Avith Katey. The young man returned 
to his place, took up the violin he had laid doAvn, and 
rested it upon his shoulder, caressing it Avith his cheek 
until it nestled into its place. Then bending his ear 


ICATHERIJVE EARLE. I55 

towards it, as if to catch its faintest whisper, he raised 
his bow. 

A knot of shadowy forms gathered in the doorAvay 
of the dusky room.^ The feeble rays of light touched 
the two girls in their quaint costume, and made a cir- 
cle of brightness around the young musician. He was 
no longer awkward, self-conscious ; the light within, 
which was a song as well, glorified his face for the 
moment, and made it beautiful, while the tones of the 
instrument, so like a human voice speaking from 
the depths of a human soul, — at the touch of his hand, 
pleaded, and sobbed, and died away upon the ear at 
last with a sigh. 

I here was a bustle of voices and gathering forms 
about the player as he ceased. 

Yes,’’ said Katey, when she had descended again 
with Mina to the little parlor, it is wonderful ! What 
does it mean ? Why is he here ? ” 

He is only home for a visit,” Milia replied. He 
is to be first violin in one of the best orchestras in the 
country this Avinter. 0, you can’t think how hard he 
has worked for years, going on from one place to a 
higher all the time.” Her enthusiasm was now quite 
unlike her indifference of half an hour before. And 
he would never have been a musician at all but for us. 
His father hoped he would stay at home and take the 
house after a time ; but Hans could not endure the 
thought of it. He told us all his desire and hope to 
be a musician, one time when we Avere here a number 
of years ago, — for we are old friends, you see, — and 
father persuaded Mr. Sheppart to let him take a feAv 
lessons; then Wulf got him a chance to play in the 
orchestra of the theatre that Avinter of Avhich I told 


156 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


you — last winter, indeed — with him ; and so it has 
gone on, fatlier saying a word occasionally to Mr. 
Sheppart, until now there is no need for any one to say 
a word — his violin can speak for him. But when we 
come here he always plays, as he has to-niglit, that 
we may see hoAv lie has improved. He never forgets 
to be grateful, and that is the best of it all. So many 
do, you know. But it is time we went to the hall ; and 
here come father and Wulf noAv.” 

They were much finer in dress than they had been 
in the cars. The long boots had been discarded, and 
there were knots of gay ribbons at their knees. They 
had changed their cloth jackets, too, for others of vel- 
vet, gayly embroidered, and around their hats were 
tied gilt cords and tassels, like those upon Mimds and 
Katey’s. It was a brilliant costume, but such as no 
Tyrolese peasant in his brightest dreams had ever im- 
agined himself possessing. 

Katey was in ’ a flutter of nervous alarm as they 
crossed the “ green ” before the little inn, fortunately 
hidden, by the gathering darkness and the cloaks in 
which they were wrapped, from the prying eyes of 
the curious crowd gathered about the door of the hall 
where the concert Avas to be. It Avas early, and the 
hall nearly empty, as they saw Avhen passing through 
it to the curtained corner near the stage Avhich Avas to 
serve as a dressing-room. Here the tAvo girls Avere 
left alone, Avhile the little old man and his son returned 
to the door to look after the sale of the tickets. Katey 
had been quickly and easily persuaded to take her 
part in the entertainment ; knoAving that it Avas to con- 
sist only in walking upon the stage and standing with 
the others. In the excitement of dressing for the new 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


157 


cliaracter, after her impulsive assent, there had been 
no time to dwell upon her probable sensations in find- 
ing herself before an audience ; and later, Mina’s story 
and the incident in the ball-room had engrossed her 
mind. Now, as she sat upon an old Avooden chair in 
this curtained corner, Avaiting for the hall to fill, and 
AVulf and his father to return, hearing the tramp and 
shuffle of feet and the murmur of voices close beside 
her, she Avas overcome with terror. Her hands and 
feet became stiff and cold ; her tongue seemed para- 
lyzed, and she shivered involuntarily, though the place 
had seemed uncomfortably warm when they entered 
it. Mina, on the contrary, danced about, shaking out 
her skirts, re-tying the ribbons upon her hair, and set- 
ting her hat jauntily upon her little round head. 

I cannot do it,” Katey said at last. I can never 
go up there ,* it is useless to try ; ” pointing to half a 
dozen steps leading up on the stage, tlie mounting of 
Avhich would seem to be no very difficult feat. 

“ Why, I do believe you are frightened I ” exclaimed 
Mina, half in surprise and half in unbelief, pausing be- 
fore her. She took Katey’s cold hands in her Av^arm 
little palms, and chafed them, talking all the time. 
'^It will be nothing Avhen you are once there,” she 
said ; “ and you have not to sing, you know. AYe shall 
stand in a half circle, you and I betAveen father and 
Wulf, and your hat Avill shade your face, so that no 
one Avill notice that you don’t sing. There ! noAv you 
are better,* ’ and Katey did, indeed, feel herself par- 
tially reassured by the touch of the Avarm hands and 
the sound of the cheerful, encouraging voice. A cor- 
ner of the curtain Avas raised, and the little old man 
and Wulf appeared. 


158 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


It is quite full — is it not ? ” said Mina, catching a 
glimpse of the hall as the curtain fell. The accident 
has detained so many people ! she added. 

“ Yes, my dear,” returned her father, in a lofty tone ; 
but the accident did not compel them to patronize 
our entertainment.” 

An impatient stamping of feet began to sound out- 
side now at intervals. Katey started nervously. 

''Let them call,” said the little old man, with a 
placid smile. "Nothing is valued, my dear young 
lady, which may be had for the asking. Delay stimu- 
lates curiosity and interest; only, however, to a cer- 
tain point. A cultivated ear alone can determine 
when that point is reached,” he added, philosophically, 
bending his head upon one side to listen, as again 
the thunder of heavy feet echoed through the room. 
" There is danger of waiting a moment too long, until 
curiosity has become irritated into angry impatience. 
I have known a whole evening to be spoiled by it, 
the audience refusing to recover its good humor.” 

Again the building seemed to shake to its founda- 
tions, and above the deafening noise sounded a shrill 
whistle. 

" There is not a moment to lose now,” said the little 
old man ; " I would not risk another round ; that whistle 
struck the key-note ; ” and he mounted the steps 
hastily. 

" If you are frightened, you can go off at any time,” 
whispered Mina, giving Katey’ s hand a reassuring 
squeeze as she passed before her. But Katey thought 
that to go off would be much more dreadful, even, than 
to remain, when once upon the stage. 

In the confusion of applause which greeted their 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


159 


appearance, it was not difficult to cross the platform, 
and take one of the four chairs set out primly in a row. 

'' Move your chair back, as I do,'’ whispered Mina ; 
and Katey found herself somewhat screened by this 
arrangement. She remembered also Mina's advice to 
glance once all over and about the room. 

You will never know, until you try it, how that one 
glance will reassure you," she had said. And she did 
oven this, beginning with the farther end of the hall, 
where Avas only a confusion of heads moving apparently 
upon pivots, and set in roAvs. To her delight, they did 
not seem to represent individuals at all. Her courage 
rose, and when at last she had reached a cross-eyed 
Avoman doAvn in front, Avho was staring fixedly at no 
one of them in particular, lier fears had vanished. She 
began even to be amused by her odd position, and to 
Avish, wlien they stood up for the first song, — in Avhich 
she could take no part, — that some chance Avonld place 
Delpliino and Jack l)eforo lier, or that Josic Durant's 
higli-bred face miglit start out from among the strange 
countenances at Avliich she dared not look iioav, lest 
she should betray her silence. Hoav aghast Avith sur- 
prise and horror would they be could they see her at 
this moment ! 

Of one custom Mina had forgotten to inform her. 
It was the habit of the family, at a certain point in 
the entertainment, to descend from the platform, and 
walk sloAvly down and back through the audience, by 
which means a most natural curiosity was gratified. 
Mina explained this noAv, in a liurried whisper, Avhen 
the first part of the concert Avas over, and the little 
old man, having made knoAvn aloud their intention, 
proceeded to leave the stage, fblloAved by the others 


160 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


— Katey with downcast eyes, and crimson, tingling 
cheeks. She would have refused had she dared, or 
had there been a moment to explain. For might not 
some one recognize her, after all ? Might not some of 
lier fellow-passengers upon the train remember her 
face ? For the first time it fiashed upon her mind that 
this innocent, good-natured part she had undertaken 
so thoughtlessly might be misinterpreted. Slie was 
following Mina, hearing Wulf ’s step behind her, con- 
scious of the absurdity of her position, painfully con- 
scious of the forms on either side leaning out from 
their places, rising from their seats, and yet silent and 
respectful, when they reached the end of the hall. 
Katey, with her eyes upon the floor, had followed the 
twinkle of the little heels before her. Now, suddenly 
they disappeared. It was nothing. Mina had only 
hastened her steps; but Katey, looking up in that 
moment of confusion and terror, met broad and full 
the searching, astonished gaze of a pair of deep-set, 
gray eyes, belonging to a square figure, leaning care- 
lessly against the wall, and holding a soft slouched 
hat in his hand. Good Heavens ! Where had he 
come from, and why was lie here ? It was the gentle- 
man who had watched her at Mrs. Durant’s the night 
before. It was the man who liad recognized Dacre 
upon the street. The glance of amused curiosity 
which he had bestowed upon the others clianged to 
the blankest amazement at sight of her, settling at last 
into a cold, hard stare, in which she read only sus- 
picion and condemnation. She paused involuntarily. 
Already she was some distance beliind the others. 
Wulf, seeing only tliis, and fearing that she was over- 
come by timidity, took her by the arm, and hastened 
her on. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


161 


How the remainder of tlie evening was passed she 
liardly knew. Slie followed mechanically the move- 
ments of the otliers, but never once again raising her 
eyes to the audience, from whom she turned away at 
last with a sense of relief beyond the power of words 
to express. She was ashamed to care so little for the 
gratitude which her new friends poured out in their 
simplicity and delight over the success of her part in 
the entertainment. She thought only of getting away 
without again encountering the cold stare of those 
sharp, gray e^^es. 

The audience dispersed at last, and they left the 
hall through the crowd which still lingered about the 
door, eager for any crumbs which their curiosity might 
pick up. Hidden behind Wulf, and clinging to Mina, 
not daring to look up, she hastened out and across the 
green. 0 the blessedness of the shelter, when the 
door of the ugly little inn had closed behind them ! 

11 


162 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XV. 

A NEW LIFE. 

K ATEY awoke late the next morning. She was 
tired, and almost ill, after the excitement of the 
previous day. The first train for La Fayette had 
already gone, which she hardly regretted, since it 
gave her time to rest and partially recover herself. 
It was afternoon before she bade adieu to her new 
friends, and started again upon her journey. King 
Cole volunteered to see her safely aboard the train , 
but this was an honor which the little old man felt 
should fall only upon himself, and which he bore by 
no means with meekness, making Katey painfully 
conspicuous at the station, by his fussy efforts to 
insure her comfort. Good by, my dear young lady, 
good by,” he said at last, still lingering, though the 
train was beginning to move. Remember that you 
have always sincere and obliged friends in the Hauser 
family ; ” with which little speech, not unlike the con- 
clusion of a letter, he folded himself up quickly, and 
hastened away. 

It was night when she reached her destination. 
But while she is standing upon the platform of the sta- 
tion, not at all sure that some one in the crowd under 
the blinking lamps may not have come to meet her, 
let us say a word of the town in which she has found 
herself. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


165 


La Fayette is one of the few cities in the United 
States which have truly the appearance of long in- 
habitation 5 with narrow streets, dull brick houses, 
and a church visited by strangers, since it is one 
of the oldest in the country, as those undoubted liis- 
torians, the stones in the churchyard, testify. 

It is situated in one of the Middle States, close 
upon the Southern, at the junction of two streams 
of revolutionary fame ; and, with its winding, nar- 
row streets, its dingy old houses, its Saturday market 
held by old women in flapping caps upon the curb- 
stones, is not unlike a continental city in appearance. 

Lying near the southern boundary of the state, its 
interests are so closely connected with that section 
of the Union, that, although professedly neutral in 
the feeling which ran so liigh even before the Avar, its 
sympathies really and fiercely followed its interests. 
There is nothing so bitter in its hatred, so strong in 
its partisanship, as neutrality.’’ Even at this time — 
a year, more or less, before the hot, angry worck led 
to blows — an avoAved northern man Avas rare here ; 
an avoAved northern sentiment rarer still. 

The school in Avhich Katey had sought a position 
was an institution founded and partly supported by 
a religious sect. It was not, hoAvever, termed an 
academy, but a college ; and had received a charter 
from the state legislature. The only visible effect of 
this Avas, that the principal was mentioned in tlie cata- 
logue, and always addressed as president, Avhile the 
male teachers bore the high-sounding title of pro- 
fessor. 

President Humphrey was a northern man, a clergy- 
man, who had been for years a missionary in India — 


164 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


a mountain of a man physically, about whose summit, 
where the snow was beginning to hill softly, the sun 
nevertheless always shone. Keen, watchful, sarcastic 
at times, he yet bore an air of genial ease approaching 
indolence — to one who could forget his peculiar, rest- 
less, dark eyes. He held the school in his great hand, 
and moulded it to his will, not by the display of au- 
thority, not by the pressure of a finger even, but 
through the belief, unconsciously working in the 
minds of his subjects, that within him was a power, 
never exercised, because the present occasion was 
always too insignificant, but none the less mighty and 
irresistible. A northern man, he held his place as 
long as it served his purpose to do so, by holding his 
tongue. Before that would have become impossible, 
he had accepted a position elsewhere. 

The senior among the professors, by reason of years, 
long residence, and his position as instructor in the 
dead languages, was Professor Paine. He, too, was 
a retked clergyman, but of another mould and stamp. 
He was timid and precise in manner, thin and brown of 
appearance, dressed invariably with scrupulous neat- 
ness in ministerial black, and was remarkable, mentally, 
for his clear convictions of duty, and his knowledge of 
Latin and Greek, as well as for his quiet persistency 
in maintaining his position in regard to either. An 
unwavering Arminian, he would not have hesitated 
to dispute with Calvin himself, had the opportunity 
been offered ; a strong believer in states’ rights, only 
a hundred miles of territory saved him from perse- 
cution, and prevented his becoming a martyr to his 
political fiiith a little later. And yet he was a cow- 
ard. He lived in mortal terror of — the scliool-girls 1 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


165 


Girl-naturo was to liim a language, the alphabet of 
which lie had not been able to master. Upon the 
rare occasions when it became necessary for him, in 
the absence of the other teachers, to preside in the 
study-hall, he entered the room with a deprecatory 
air, at which the young Amazons smiled cruelly and 
visibly. He mounted to the high desk with a stum- 
bling step, seated himself with a care which implied 
a doubt as to final results, and surveyed the room with 
an attempted expression of ease, which perished in 
the bud, his countenance saying in every line, “ Now, 
young ladies, now — now — really ! 0, you dreadful 

creatures, what are you going to do ? ” 

Then, first one desk-lid would fall with a sound like 
an explosion ; another, at the farther end of the room, 
would respond ; a third would take it up, until every 
desk in the hall seemed in motion ; while the poor 
professor, turning his head spasmodically from side to 
side, liis bewildered face a deep mahogany hue, tried 
in vain to fix upon the offenders. He was known 
to have even fled from the room. But did the presi- 
dent appear in the doorway, every sound ceased, 
every eye was fixed upon the page before it. These 
occurrences, however, were rare ; perhaps because 
the occasions were rare, indeed, upon which he was 
called to preside. 

The first among the professors, in point of fact, was 
Professor I)yce — he who strove to inculcate the 
natural sciences and higher mathematics upon the 
unwilling minds of the girls, and to whom all au- 
thority was intrusted in the absence of the president. 
Like him, he was born and had been reared in the 
north, but had spent some years of his life abroad. 


166 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


in the comfortable belief that he was to fall heir to a 
wealth which made any exertion for his own support 
unnecessary. Circumstances, however, — including a 
lawsuit, — rendering this belief problematical, and, at 
the same time, calling him to La Fayette, instead of 
indulging vain hopes or useless fears, he sought and 
obtained a position in this school while awaiting the 
result, and, to prepare himself for a possible future, 
was pursuing medical studies in his moments of 
leisure. 

Besides these two, there were connected with the 
institution Mr. Milde, the teacher of drawing and 
painting 5 Professor Crote, the music-master , and still 
another, of unnecessary and unpronounceable name, 
who came upon certain days to instruct the young 
ladies in the modern languages. Mr. Milde was a 
bashful young man, with large brown eyes, and a 
smooth, boyish face, chiefly remarkable for the ad- 
amantine nature of his heart, since no amount of 
strength brought to bear upon his sensibilities — 
in the shape of coquettish airs and manners, or even 
sighs and half- concealed tears — was able to swerve 
him from the rigid performance of his duty, which was, 
as has been said, to teach the young ladies of the 
La Fayette Female College the principles of drawing 
and painting. 

With Professor Gr6te, high- shouldered, square of 
face, auburn-haired, and with twinkling blue eyes 
behind his gold-rimmed spectacles, the young co^ 
quettes were more successful. At least, numerous 
stories of pretty compliments, paid in the professor’s 
oddly-accented English, floated about the school ; not 
Well-authenticated stories, by any means, but suf- 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


167 


ficiently plausible to give a romantic interest to the 
great, bare music-room, and dull little practising- 
closets, and to flavor somewhat the rather tasteless 
school-life. As to the female teachers, they shall be 
enumerated later, — when Katey has found a more 
comfortable resting-place, even for a summer night, 
than tlie crowded platform of a railway station. 

Evidently no one had come to meet her. The car- 
riages, drawn up in a dusky line, were beginning to 
drive rapidly away. She descended the steps, and en- 
tered the last and only remaining one, which had been 
disdained, perhaps, on account of its shabby appear- 
ance. In a moment it was climbing the narrow, steep 
street, rattling over the round paving-stones of the 
town, turning corners, and making abortive dives at 
houses dimly shadowed forth in the flickering gas- 
light, with a kind of jerk and shamble of motion 
which brought her at last to her destination — a 
brick house, tall and gloomy of appearance in the 
dim light, detached from the others upon the street, 
and with a double flight of high stone steps leading 
to two doors placed side by side. 

“ Pull either bell,’’ the cabman called, as she hesi- 
tated between the two ; “ it’s all the same.” 

A servant opened the door. She stepped into a 
narrow hall, full of the sound of voices suddenly 
hushed, proceeding from an open doorway on the right, 
which was immediately fllled by a giant form, while 
President Humphrey’s dark face shone down upon 
her full of kindly welcome, when she had introduced 
herself. He was followed by his wife, a little woman 
of delicate appearance, who greeted Katey languidly, 
and drew her into the room from which the voices 


168 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


had come — a pretty apartment, with its bamboo fur- 
niture and quaint foreign ornaments. It was bril- 
liantly lighted now, and to Katey, dazzled after the 
dull glimmer of the street lamps, seemed to be filled 
with people. A little round man upon the sofa, whose 
cravat appeared to have inadvertently started his eyes 
from his head, rose, at her entrance, with a kind ol 
bounce. This was one of the parents, wliom term- 
time had brought to Mrs. Humphrey’s drawing-room 
— Mr. Solomon Luckiwinner, the owner of many 
shares in more than one Pennsylvania coal mine, and 
the possessor, also, of a daughter, which accounted 
for his presence here. She was an exceedingly di- 
minutive, prim young lady, of insignificant counte- 
nance, overloaded in dress and weighed down with 
jewelry, which seemed so out of place upon her as 
to give one the impression that she was only holding 
it a few moments for the accommodation of some one 
else. Just now her small features were swollen and 
disfigured by crying. The pangs of homesickness 
had seized upon her already. Katey, conscious of 
an unaccountable sinking of her own heart, felt an 
irresistible drawing towards the forlorn girl, who 
gave her a prim, dutiful little bow, and then subsided, 
with a suppressed sob, into her corner again, as one 
or two of the lady teachers rose hastily and came 
forward to greet her : Miss Severance — tall, fair, 
brown-eyed, and sweet to look at, dressed in deepest 
black ; Miss Wormley — of whom Katey marked only, 
at the moment, the blink of watery, red- rimmed eyes ; 
and Our preceptress. Miss Hersey,” — a plump, high- 
shouldered, fair-haired woman, of anxious countenance 
and timid, hesitating manner, whom nature had in- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


169 


tended for a happier sphere, but fate and circum- 
stances had made preceptress of the La Fayette Female 
College. These all resided in the two houses which 
made up the school buildings ; for, in addition to tho 
one containing Mrs. Humphrey’s drawing-room, there 
was another at a short distance around the corner of 
the street, the two being connected in the rear by a 
wide veranda, at the point where their angles met. 
In the corner itself was a smaller house, which Pro- 
fessor Paine occupied with his family. The other 
gentlemen connected with the institution, with the 
exception of Professor Dyce, came in at stated hours 
to their classes. 

You would be glad to go to your room, I am 
sure,” said Miss Hersey, upon whom devolved the 
duty of entertaining these school guests ; “ but, as it 
is in the other house, perhaps you had better take 
your tea first. We did not know when to expect you, 
after the accident yesterday. Professor Dyce and 
our new housekeeper were delayed by it; but they 
came on this morning. We thought, from your letter, 
that you would come by that train ; but Professor 
Dyce could not recall any one whom he judged to be 
you.” 

Katey ran over in her mind the few faces among 
the passengers which she could remember. I was 
upon the train, but I think I did not see him,” she said. 

^^Yery likely; you were not in the same car, I 
presume.” 

“ How did you pass the night ? Of course you 
were obliged to remain at the junction.” 

It was Mrs. Humphrey who roused herself to speak 
from the arm-chair in which she was hidden. How 


170 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


timid and easily confused this rather stately young 
lady was, after all, she thought, as Katey replied, with 
evident embarrassment, that she had found a very 
comfortable inn close by the station. 

Still, it must have been very awkward to go to 
an inn alone,” suggested Miss Wormley, craning her 
long neck, and patting her faded, sandy hair. 

But I was not alone,” Katey replied, quickly. 
Then she checked herself. 

0, you were with friends?” Miss Wormley saw 
no reason why this girl should not relate the circum- 
stances exactly as they occurred. 

Fortunately, at this moment. Miss Hersey, after a 
little flurried start and glance round the room, pro- 
posed that Katey should go down to tea, and rose 
to lead the way. It was long after the usual tea hour, 
and she was served alone. When they returned, the 
president and Miss Severance had left the room. 
Mrs. Humphrey was dozing in her chair, while Miss 
Wormley had drawn near Mr. Luckiwinner, to whose 
remarks she was listening with a simper of pleased 
attention upon her countenance. 

I ain’t much of a scholar myself,” he was saying, 
‘‘ but I reckon Clary, here, shall larn about all there 
is ; ” and he described a half-circle with his right 
hand, upon which shone an enormous diamond ring, 
as though gathering within its limits all the wisdom 
of the earth, which was to And a place in poor little 
Miss Luckiwinner’s head. “ There’s money enough.” 
He winked, and chuckled, and gurgled, in an alarming 
way. Don’t leave nothing out. We’ll have all them 
high-sounding things. The Lord knows the name of 
’em, I don’t. Won’t we. Clary ? ” appealing to the 
corner. But the only reply was a burst of sobs. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


171 


There, there, don’ tee now,” he said, soothingly, 
drawing the girl forward, and seating her upon his 
knee. You won’t mind us, ma’am ? ” to Mrs. Hum- 
phrey, as the girl buried her face upon her father’s 
shoulder. “ You see, she ain’t had no mother these 
good many years.” Perhaps it was the tight neck- 
handkerchief which squeezed the tears at this moment 
into his own eyes. He brushed them away with the 
coarse hand upon which gleamed the showy ring. 

I’ve had to be dad and inarm, too. Ain’t I, Clary ? 
There, there, it won’t be no time at all before you’ll 
be cornin’ home on your vacation, with so much lamin’ 
in your head, that you can’t talk to your poor dad.” 
This he said with a comprehensive wink around the 
room ; but the only reply was a tighter clasp of the 
arms about his neck, and a new burst of sobs into his 
bosom. “ And then there’s Rol coming to see you 
next week. That’s her brother,” he explained ; and 
may be I shall look in on you by the week after. Per. 
haps I’ll come to school myself ! ” he added, as a 
triumph of wit. “ You don’t think your dad’s too 
old to larn them high-soundin’ things — do ye, little 
gal ? ” 

There was a burst of laughter from the hidden head 
at this, and Mr. Luckiwinner choked, and gurgled, 
and reddened, and gasped, as though he were in 
danger of going out like a sputtering candle. When 
he had so far recovered himself as to be able to blow 
his nose upon a handkerchief with a flaming border, 
he addressed himself to Katey. 

They tell me you’re agoin’ to be a teacher here ; 
well, if you’d have an eye on my little gal — bein’ 
young yourself,” he went on, without noticing the 


172 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


change in Miss Wormley’s countenance — from the 
most tender pity and sympathy to astonishment and 
gathering indignation. If you’d let her room with 
you, say, I’d fit up that room without sparin’ no 
expense ; velvet carpet, three-story black walnut bed- 
stead, with filigree work over the top, carved side- 
board to put your clothes in, and all them little silver 
gimcracks that women like to have round on the 
bureau, handsomer ’n any communion service you ever 
see.” 

Ho spoke eagerly and hurriedly ; but Miss Hersey 
ventured to interfere, and explain that it was against 
the rules of the school for the teachers to share their 
rooms with the pupils. But, as each one had charge 
of a dormitory hall, the young lady could room upon 
Miss Earle’s hall if she chose ; and so the matter was 
arranged. 

Suddenly, Mrs. Humphrey, who had been fast asleep, 
wrapped in a soft white shawl, summer night though 
it was, roused herself with a little yawn, to ask. 
Where is Professor Dyce ? Has any one seen him 
since tea?” The question was answered unexpect- 
edly. A quick, firm step sounded in the hall, followed 
by a deep voice in momentary colloquy with some 
one there, and the professor himself entered the 
room. 

Here he is now,” said Miss Hersey, before he 
appeared, hearing his step, which could never be 
mistaken for the president’s heavy roll, or Professor 
Paine’s timid creep. Katey turned with listless curi- 
osity. She had half risen to ask to be shown to her 
room. She dropped upon her seat again, her heart 
for the moment ceasing to beat. It was the gentle- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


17B 


man who had recognized Dacre Home npon the 
street, and who had confronted her so unexpectedly 
the night before. Why had she never imagined the 
possibility of this ? 

Ah,” said Mrs. Humphrey, we were just speak- 
ing of you ; Miss Hersey, will you — ” She sank back 
into her chair with a little wave of her hand towards 
Miss Earle, whom Miss Hersey hastened to present. 

The professor had marked the shrinking figure as 
he entered, — some frightened school- girl, he had said 
to himself; but at the sound of her name, he came 
forward with outstretched hand, and a pleasant, re- 
assuring word upon his lips, remembering the timid 
start of the slight figure whose face he was curious 
to see. 

He recalled the image of an odd little girl, bear- 
ing this same name, whom he had befriended years 
before, at a children’s party in Boston. She had 
forgotten the occasion and time, of course, and he 
had no thought of making himself known to her; 
but the recollection quickened his curiosity, and 
warmed his usual cool, grave manner into unwonted 
cordiality. 

Katey rose, but she did not lift her eyes. Had she 
not felt before the sudden, freezing stare, which she 
had not the courage to meet again ? As for the pro- 
fessor, his hand fell to his side, the lialf-uttered words 
of welcome came to an untimely end, he bowed Ioav, 
and, turning away abruptly, seated himself by Mrs. 
Humphrey’s chair. 

Poor Katey, left standing in the middle of the floor, 
her bonnet pushed back from her burning face, her 
slender fingers tightly clasping each other as she 


174 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


tried to repress the tears which sprang to her eyes, 
remembered Jack — remembered Delphino’s pleasant 
home with a longing liko a pain. Why had sho come 
here ? Did not Jack say that she would do something 
absurd and unheard of? And so she had already. 
She stooped and picked up her shawl, whicli liad 
fallen to the floor, as the buzz of conversation sounded 
again in her ears. Would he tell, here and now, 
where he had last seen her ? The part she had 
played so thoughtlessly, and, as it seemed to her at 
the time, so innocently, appeared now almost like a 
crime. Could she confess it if called upon ? For 
a moment she almost thought she might. Then 
she remembered the skirts, of modest length, to be 
sure, but much shorter than fashion or custom dic- 
tated. Strange that a few inches should condemn 
her ; and yet she knew they would. She might tell 
the story, but she could never own to tlie little red 
petticoat I 

Have you come far to-day ? ’’ There was a 
sudden silence, as Professor Dyce’s voice, with its 
slightly sarcastic tone, crossed the room. The ques 
tion was for her, then, — when ho knew. Did ho 
think to expose and confound her before them all? 
Pride, and something almost like anger, came to her 
rescue. 

I have come from the junction,’’ she answered, 
with that forced, outward composure which answers 
so often and well for inward quiet. She did not 
shrink from meeting his eyes now. She had been 
foolish, perhaps, but she had done no wrong. 

The accident detained you there, I presume ; you 
must liave found the time of waiting rather dull.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


175 


She thought of the little company of which she had 
made one, and which he had seen trooping down 
through the hall in their fantastic garb. Dull ! It 
was dreadful to remember ; but it certainly was not 
dull. The flame in her face rose to her hair. 

Yes/^ ventured Miss Wormley, who had watched 
Miss Earle from the moment of the professor’s en- 
trance, and was confident not only that they had met 
before, but that there was some secret cause of em- 
barrassment on Katey’s side, it must have been 
very tiresome ; but she was with friends, I believe. 
Did you not say that you met friends upon the 
train ? ” 

Katey had risen from her seat and crossed the 
room, trailing the little bright shawl after her. She 
did not appear to have heard the question. “ I am 
very tired,” she said, addressing Miss Hersey ; “ could 
I be shown to my room ? ” 

“ 0, certainly,” Miss Hersey responded quickly, 
rising and leading the way, when Katey had made 
a dignified adieu, which included the whole room. 
“ I beg your pardon ; I forgot that you were still in 
your bonnet.” 

They crossed the great music-room, and descended 
a few steps to the wide veranda, enclosed on three 
sides by the buildings, and open to the garden upon 
the fourth, at the further end of which was a door, 
which Miss Hersey unlocked ; here they found them- 
selves in a narrow hall, with the school-room upon 
the right, shrouded in darkness now, and a flight of 
stairs just before them. 

^‘We might have come through the school-room,’ 
said Miss Hersey ; but it is so much more direct 


176 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


that we usually cross the veranda, as you will find. 
This is my hall,” slie added, as they reached the top 
of the first flight of stairs. “ Yours is above it ; 1 
will show you ; ” and she led the way. A long, wide 
passage extended the length of the building ; upon 
either side were ranged doors, in a long line, broken 
upon one side by a descending stairway, which turned 
and was lost to sight in the darkness. 

The last of this line of doors proved to give en- 
trance to Katey’s apartment — a cosy little corner 
room, lighted by windows upon either side, and neatly 
furnished. She had no regrets for the pretty, luxu- 
rious chamber which had been her own in Delphine’s 
home. If her mind had been at ease, she would have 
been quite content Avith her surroundings. 

“ There are no girls yet upon this hall, I think ; but 
they will come to-morrow. My room, however, it 
directly under yours, and if you are timid — 

“ 0, I am not at all afraid,” Katey said, quickly, 
longing to be alone. But Miss Luckiwinner ? ” she 
asked, suddenly. 

Yes ; I had forgotten. I will see that she has the 
next room ; it is not engaged, and she will probably 
prefer to occupy it to-night, rather than stay in the 
other house. I will attend to it.” Then, with a pleas- 
ant good night. Miss Hersey left her. 

She had lighted the gas and closed the shutters. 
Katey’s trunk had been brought up and placed behind 
the door. She sat doAvn beside it. It was familiar to 
her eyes, like the face of a friend, and she had not 
realized, until this moment, how heavy-hearted she was. 
Could Professor Dyce send her away in disgrace ? 
No ; he Avould hardly do that without giving her an 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Ill 


opportunity to explain. But did she wish to explain ? 
She was not at all sure that she did. Even now she 
resented the tone in which he had addressed her. She 
felt that he had mocked her. If he demanded an ex- 
planation she would give it to him ; she could not do 
less ; otherwise she would say nothing at all. Ho 
had looked at her with surprise and suspicion the 
first time they met 5 but he had no right to judge 
her. And that brought her mind again to Dacre 
— poor Dacre, of whom every one — unless it were 
Delphine — disapproved. The air of the room was 
close and stifling ; she turned down the gas and 
threw open the shutters. There was something in 
the stillness of the hot, starless niglit, which brought 
back almost painfully the last time she had seen him, 
when her cry had called him back to her. But for 
that, she knew, ho would have gone away forever. 
Was it regret that weighed her spirit down with 
the thought ? Poor Dacre I his handsome, dissatis- 
fied face rose before her, as though she had evoked 
it from the shadows. He loved her. He would come 
to her. But when, and where ? Everything in the 
future was dark and uncertain at this moment, as 
she closed the shutters and turned away from the 
window. 

She was falling into a troubled sleep, when there 
came a feeble rap upon the door. It is I,’^ said a 
timid voice. “ It is Miss Luckiwinner. 0, please 
open the door.’^ Katey unlocked it quickly, to be met 
by little Miss Luckiwinner’s tear-stained face and 
slender, white-robed figure. Do let me come in,” 
she said. I can’t sleep, I am so frightened to be 
alone.” 


12 


178 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Stay with me, then,’’ said Katey, stricken with 
compunction at having quite forgotten her. 

So the trembling little figure crept into Katey’s 
bed, where she soon forgot her fears, as did Katey 
her anxieties, in the blessed sleep of youth, which, 
for the time, at least, wipes out all cares. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


179 


CHAPTER XYI. 

AND ONE WAS WATER, AND ONE STAR WAS FIRE.” 

girls had returned from the long vacation ; the 
-A classes were re-formed, and went on as usual, and 
Katey had fallen naturally into the place assigned her. 
Whatever fears she had been conscious of at first, in 
regard to being allowed to remain, were allayed, if they 
had not entirely vanished. The kindly relations es- 
tablished between the other teachers and herself con- 
vinced her that Professor Dyce had not imparted his 
prejudices to them. With him she still felt that she 
was under the strictest surveillance. Often the door 
of her class-room opened noiselessly in the midst of a 
recitation, and he stood beside her, cold, calm, and 
critical, yet saying nothing, and departing as he came. 
At his first visit, she was startled and discomposed. 
The book in her hand fell to the floor ; he restored it 
gravely. She offered a chair ; he refused it politely, 
but coldly. The younger girls tittered. 

Attend to the lesson,’’ Miss Earle said, calmly, 
though her face blazed ; and the recitation went on. 
From that day his visits were apparently unnoticed. 
Katey offered him no more civilities, except sometimes 
a dignified bow if he chanced to enter in her fiice. 

Often, when a group of girjs gathered around her 
upon the wide veranda, — the favorite lounging-place 


180 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


after school hours in these pleasant September days, 
so like a bit of forgotten summer, — the professor’s 
form would appear in their midst. Then, if she were 
the speaker at the moment, the words died upon 
Katey’s lips. Sometimes in the evening, when she 
had taken her work for an hour down into the study 
hall, where the other teachers were gathered and Pro- 
fessor Dyce sat enthroned, looking up from her needle 
she would find the sharp gray eyes fixed upon her 
with a puzzled, strange expression, which sent the 
stitches all awry. His class-room adjoined her own. 
She had caught a glimpse of its arrangement more 
than once through the half-open door. He had fitted 
it for a study as well as class-room, with a comfort, and 
even luxury, which made the others seem bare by 
comparison. The teachers were accustomed to seek 
him here, to offer complaints, or ask advice or assist- 
ance. Katey met them often as she came from or went 
to her classes. Indeed, hardly a day passed in which 
Miss Wormley’s teetering step and high-pitched voice 
were not heard outside the door. She alone had never 
entered his room. She had no complaints to make, no 
aid to ask ; her duties were simple and plain. 

She had drawn Clary Lucki winner away from the 
other girls one afternoon. Clary was a dull scholar at 
best, but in French verbs she was well nigh hopeless. 
Katey, seeing her pore over them day after day, en- 
deavored to drill her out of school hours, by a method 
of her own. It was half an hour before tea, and the 
long file of girls detailed for afternoon exercise had 
just returned. 1 hey filled the veranda, they chattered 
in the study-hall and upon the stairs, they had even in- 
vaded her own room upon some flimsy pretext. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


181 


know of but one quiet place,” Katey said. 

Come, Clary.” 

She would not seek her class-room. Its neighbor- 
hood to the professor’s sanctum made her avoid it at 
all times when it was possible to do so. But under 
the music-room was a great, dimly-lighted hall, where 
no one could disturb them for a time. It was a kind 
of lumber-room, with boxes ranged against the walls. 
One of these, tall and narrow, held a skeleton, with 
which the older girls deliglited to frighten the more 
timid, by touching the spring attached to its jaws, and 
causing it suddenly to gnash its hideous teeth. Oppo- 
site this was a door barred by a stationary table hang- 
ing flat against the posts ordinarily, but raised on 
Friday afternoons, when the clothes were given out 
from the store-room here connected with the laundry 
in the rear. This was the province of Mrs. Jones — 
the jimber-jawed woman who had come from New 
Hampshire unattended. At other times the hall was 
only used as a passage between the new building — 
as the one containing the school- room was called — 
and the dining-room, and mostly in the extremely cold 
or stormy Aveather, Avhen it would be uncomfortable to 
cross the sheltered veranda. It was here that Katey 
led Clary to remain until the horrible gong, ahvays 
beaten in this place, should announce tea, and drive 
them away. Curled upon one of the great boxes, her 
back resting fearlessly against the high, red case con- 
taining the skeleton, Katey opened the grammar. 

Noav, Clary, which is it ? The tliird ? Or shall we 
look over the exercise first?” The two heads were 
very close together as they turned the leaves to find 
the place, when suddenly, without voice or warning, 


182 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


a well-kept but by no means small hand reached over 
and between them, and the book disappeared. Clary 
uttered a sharp little scream. Even Katey caught 
her breath. Had the skeleton become reanimated ? 
Certainly no skeleton ever displayed such muscular 
fingers as those which had closed over the book in her 
lap. She remembered now that this hall was the di- 
rect passage from the class-rooms to the library, to tlie 
president’s office, and, indeed, the whole of the story 
above, as well as to the dining-room upon this floor ; 
and with the indignation in her face there was blended 
no surprise to see Professor Dyce standing before her, 
coolly turning the leaves of the French Grammar, as 
she descended from her undignified position, and 
walked away Avithout a word, leaving Clary to remain 
or follow, as she chose. Clary, whose intuitions were 
not especially keen, chose to stay. She was not at all 
afraid of Professor Dyce, who, although reserved in 
his intercourse with the girls, was yet too thoroughly 
just in his dealings to fail to win their respect, and a 
kind word or two bestowed upon Clary in the days of 
her desolation had made her his faithful servant. She 
began now with an elaborate explanation of the cir- 
cumstances which had brought them here, ending 
with a eulogy upon Katey’s patient endeavors in her 
behalf ‘Ht makes no difference hoAv tired she is ; she 
hears me say them every day,” she added, in con- 
clusion. 

But Miss Earle does not have the French classes.” 

0, no ; Miss Wormley has us beginners. But it is 
very kind in Miss Earle,” Clary ventured. It had 
dawned upon her at last that there was something like 
disapproval in the professor’s manner. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 183 

Yes/’ he said, thoughtfully, giving her the book, 
and passing on. 

Katey’s steps were quickened when once out of the 
professor’s sight. Passing the school-room, she saw 
that it was empty now. Her eyes were full of angry 
tears, and there was a choking sob in her throat. The 
awful shriek and wail of the gong sounded in her ears. 
She could not go on to her room, meeting half the 
school upon the way. She turned in here, and passed 
down the length of the room to one of the desks in the 
last row. The shutters were closed to keep out the dust 
whirling through the narrow streets in the September 
wind ; the light was dim here ; no one would notice 
her. She was shaded, too, by the heavy, winding 
stairway behind her, beginning in a broad step or two, 
then branching off on either side, and leading to the 
dormitory halls above. No one would descend here ; 
these stairs were never used except upon grand occa- 
sions. The last shriek of the gong — like a voice 
from Pandemonium — had died away. She would not 
heed the summons; Clary alone would miss her — 
Clary, who followed her like a spaniel, and with whom 
she could not be trusted, it seemed ; and for the mo- 
ment the anger that rose within her dried away her 
tears. 

The place was very still. The bustle and din of 
the town were shut out from her retreat. The very 
quiet soothed and calmed her after a while. She 
crossed her arms upon the desk, and laid her head 
upon them. A gentle drowsiness stole over her — • 
the rest which comes after a sharp pain. She was 
roused by a step upon the veranda — a quick, resound- 
ing step belonging to no one of the girls. It would 


184 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


pass on. But to her terror it drew nearer and nearer. 
She would not raise her head. The shadows would 
hide her. It came down the aisle, it paused beside 
her. She lay quite still, but stifled by the frightened 
beating of her heart. It was Professor Dyce, she 
knew. One moment, then he moved softly away as 
though he thought she slept. 

She raised her head when the door had closed after 
him. There was a rustle of garments behind, and 
yet above her. She turned quickly. Did she dream 
it? Or had she seen at that moment Miss Wormley’s 
blinking eyes peering down from the winding stairs 
behind her ? 

There was the rush of slippered feet upon the ve- 
randa, the sound of sharp, shrill voices, the door was 
flung open, tea was over, and the girls streamed by 
and in at the farther end of the room. 

Some one approached with anxious haste, bearing a 
little tray carefully. It was Clary Lucki winner, her 
face aglow. I have brought you some tea and toast ; 
and I begged Mrs. Jones to give me a bit of marma- 
lade ; ” and she set her tray down upon the desk. 

But I have a headache. I did not care for any- 
thing. How did you know I was here? ” Katey said, 
quickly. 

0, Professor Dyce told me that you were asleep in 
the school-room. And he said perhaps Mrs. Jones 
would let me carry some tea to you. It is quite like 
a picnic — isn’t it ? ” Clary went on, spreading a fresh 
napkin over the desk. 

So she was indebted to Professor Dyce ? He had 
repented, then, of his rudeness. Perhaps he had come 
to tell her so. She was still sore and hurt, and by no 

















KATHERINE EARLE. 


185 


means inclined to forgive him ; but she was faint also, 
and feverish with thirst ; so she drank the tea thank- 
fully, and ate the thin slices of toast which Clary's de- 
lighted hands spread for her. 

She would not stay in her own room that evening, 
as she was at first inclined to do. She was too proud 
to hide, as though she were sorry or ashamed. And 
yet she shrank from meeting the professor again. 
She waited until past the hour of assembling in the 
study-hall, and then stole down the stairs, and slipped 
into a seat near the door. It was Friday evening. 
There were no lessons for the next day to be learned. 
The girls had gathered in knots, sewing in hand, wait- 
ing for some one of the teachers to read aloud, as was 
the custom. Miss Hersey, turning her perplexed, an- 
noyed face towards the clock continually, rose at last 
with some hesitation ; but at that moment the door 
opened, and Professor Dyce walked into the room, and 
ascended to the desk. The half-suppressed voices 
ceased as he searched among the books before him. 
There was a perceptible frown upon the broad fore- 
head. Some one ventured an irrelevant question. He 
answered sharply. Tlie girls stared, and whispered 
to each other. He found the book he sought, raised 
his head, and glanced over the group of teachers by 
the door. His face cleared somewhat at sight of 
Katey's gray-clad figure seated composedly with the 
others, her liead bent over her work. He turned the 
pages, found the place, and began to read. 

Notwithstanding the general rules established for 
the conviction and punishment of the Christians, the 
fate of those sectaries, in an extensive and arbitrary 
government, must still, in a great measure, have de- 


186 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


pended on their own behavior, the circumstances of 
the times, and the temper of their supreme as well as 
subordinate rulers.’’ 

The girls yawned, and exchanged communications 
furtively. Katey’s fingers went on mechanically with 
her work. Her thoughts wandered miles away in an 
idle reverie. All at once they Avere interrupted. 
The voice of the reader ceased. Recalled unex- 
pectedly to the present time and place, she raised her 
eyes involuntarily. The professor had asked some 
question in regard to what he had read, Avhich was 
met by the blankest silence. He turned from his in- 
attentive hearers, and misinterpreting the startled ex- 
pression upon Katey’s countenance, his face resumed 
its usual tranquillity. “ You may reply, please.” 

The work fell from her hands. She stammered and 
blushed, feeling every eye upon her. I beg your par- 
don ; I — I was not listening,” she was obliged to say. 

The book closed Avith a snap. “ There will be no 
more reading to-night ; ” and the professor descended 
from his desk, and quitted the room. 

The assembly broke up in confusion, but not before 
Katey had caught Miss Wormley’s whispered exclama- 
tion, Stupid ! ” 

Yes, it was thoroughly stupid. How could she 
have done so ? She was humbled and penitent. 

Don’t mind it at all,” said gentle Miss Severance 
in her ear, as they were leaving the room. It would 
have been the same Avith any of us ; Ave were not pay- 
ing the least attention.” 

It AA''as so unlike Professor Dyce,” added Miss 
Hersey. I never kiieAV him to read Roman History 
before on Friday evening.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


187 


Saturday morning was a time of unrestrained liberty 
to the girls. They came and went as they chose^ 
making purchases, or paying visits, if they were so 
fortunate as to have friends in the town. Katey, 
bound by no restrictions upon other days, was glad 
to stay within doors to enjoy the unusual quiet of the 
deserted school-room and empty halls. She had 
finished a letter to Delphine, and was on her way now 
to leave it upon the desk in the school- room, from 
which the letters were gathered at certain hours. 
Some one ran against her at the foot of the stairs. It 
was little Maria Chillson, one of the youngest girls in 
the school, all in a flutter of haste and flying ribbons. 

0, Miss Earle, I was coming to your room. I have 
got something for you.’^ She pulled and tugged at 
her pocket, bringing out neither cake nor candy, — 
with which that receptacle was usually filled, — but a 
note. 

From whom could it be ? There was no postmark 
or stamp upon it, and the handwriting was strange to 
her. She turned it over and over ; there was no mis- 
take. “Miss Katherine Earle,’^ the superscription 
read. 

“ Where did you get this ? 

“A gentleman gave it to me on the street. He 
went away to write it, and came back again. And he 
asked me ever so many questions, too, — ■ if you had to 
sit in the school-room evenings, and all that,’^ the 
child added, carelessly. It was nothing to her. She 
was impatient to be gone again. The precious mo- 
ments were slipping away. 

Katey sat down upon the stairs, seized with a sud- 
den trembling. It had come at last, then. He had 


188 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


not forgotten her. She had not trusted him in vaia 
And he was so near ! She rose up hurriedly, and was 
hastening up the stairs, holding the precious letter 
tight in her hand, when she remembered the child. 

Maria ! ’’ she called. The blue ribbons were half 
way across the veranda. They came back drooping, 
and slowly. She took the child in her arms. “ I want 
to tell you something,’^ she said. You must never 
do this again. You must never listen to any stranger 
upon the street. Will you remember?’’ 

“ Yes, ma’am ; ” but the child made an impatient 
movement to free herself from Katey’s arm. 

“ And now you had better come with me.” 

But I want to go out again. 1 — •” 

You are too young to go out alone. It must not 
happen again. Never mind,” — as the heavy little 
countenance fell into a still more forlorn expression of 
disappointment, — I will go with you some afternoon 
next week ; and now you may come and sit with me, 
if you choose, until the others return ; ” and she bore 
her off. 

The note fairly burned in her pocket; but she 
would not open it before the child. She taxed her- 
self to amuse her little prisoner, so that she should not 
feel her bonds ; and the child passed a happy hour, 
until the gong sounded for dinner, calling them both 
below. It seemed as though the dinner hour would 
never pass. It was, indeed, the most unrestrained 
and social meal of the week ; where the girls brought 
to eager telling their exploits and adventures of the 
morning, and at which more than half of them ap- 
peared in their hats and shawls — as they came in 
from the street. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


189 


Dinner over at last, she was waylaid as she passed 
Miss Hersey’s hall, and led away to her room for a 
long consultation about various school matters, which 
seemed to Katey strangely trivial and unimportant, — 
longing, as she did, to be set free. Even when she 
had gained her own room, Clary followed close in her 
footsteps to ask her advice upon her toilet for the 
evening. It was to be one of the reception nights, 
which occurred three or four times in a term, when 
the friends of the teachers and pupils were invited to 
pass the evening at the school. There would be music 
and restrained conversation, with some simple refresh- 
ments served in the music-room. Clary, upon these 
rather mild occasions, decked herself out like a Chi- 
nese idol. “ And what will you wear ? ” she asked. 

Please, something light and thin ; and braid your 
hair like a crown.’’ Katey threw open the shutters to 
let the faint breeze steal in. A flood of torrid sun- 
light came with it. How long tlie summer was a dy- 
ing ! I don’t know ; it doesn’t matter,” she answered. 
There was a breathlessness in her voice which had 
nothing to do with her words. She stood in the open 
window in the blazing sunlight, and gazed far up the 
dusty street. Somewhere in the dull old town Dacre 
was at this moment. 0, so near ! 

One after another the girls in the hall stole in. A 
rap at the door, a faint excuse until the place was full. 
She might run away and leave them in possession ; 
but wliere should she go? The halls, the stairs, the 
school-room, eacli held its knots of chattering girls. 
The skeleton-room was not to be thought of again, and 
she would not venture upon her class-room, lest in the 
narrow passage she should encounter Professor Dyce. 


190 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


Not until the summons came to tea was the room 
cleared ; and then she followed the others. She 
lingered to fasten the door behind her, and so stepped 
out into the hall alone. As she passed little Maria 
Chillson’s door, she saw that three figures stood just 
inside. They were Miss Wormley, Maria, and a dull- 
faced girl, who would have passed through the school 
unnoticed, but that she was a niece of the President 
of the United States, and subject to fits. Either of 
these circumstances would have made her remarkable. 
The conjunction rendered her famous. 

1 don’t know,’* Maria was saying, impatiently ; 
only he gave me the note, and — ” 

They all turned at Katey’s step. Maria flushed 
crimson, and hung down her head. Miss Wormley 
came forward with unnecessary haste. I have had 
a note from Maria’s mother ; 1 took it up to read to 
her,” she said. Katey turned her dark eyes full upon 
her. It was not the truth, she knew. It was of 
Dacre’s note to her they had been speaking. They 
had made the child tell the story. But they could not 
take it away from her, she thought, with a great rush 
of gladness, pressing her hand instinctively upon the 
pocket where the precious missive still lay hidden. 
She had hastened her steps ; she murmured something, 
she hardly knew what, as she left them and ran down 
the stairs and across the veranda. She feared nothing 
at this moment ; she desired nothing but one little half 
hour of undisturbed solitude. 

She left the table before the others, slipping out 
quietly from her seat, whicli was near the door. Not 
once did she pause or glance to the right or left until 
she had gained her own room, and fastened the door 
behind her. Not even Clary should enter now. 


KATHERINE EARLES 


191 


She drew the note from her pocket. How she had 
Imiged for it ! He might have written to her openly. 
Slie liad scanned the letters day after day in eager 
hope, but in vain. She had tried not to be impatient. 
She liad striven to banish her fears. She held the let- 
ter in her hand, stroking it gently. How would he 
write to her ? She had never received a letter in her 
life except from Helphine, or Jack, or Josie Durant. 
This would be quite different ; and so, at last, full of 
hope and happiness, and a wondering as to what it 
contained, which enhanced both, she opened the letter 
and spread it out before her. 

“Dear Katey,’’ it began — as Jack or Delphine 
might have written ; but the words held a new signifi- 
cance— “ I must see you. Something has happened, 
and 1 am going away. Send me a line by the bearer 
(if the stupid little fool ever gives this to you). If 1 
do not hear from you, telling me where and when I 
can see you to-day, I shall be in the scliool-garden to- 
night at nine o’clock. Do not fail to meet me. If you 
do, I shall appear in the school-room at prayers, by 
way of tlie garden and veranda. The long window 
opening upon the veranda was left unfastened last 
night. Did you know it? I am inclined to attend 
prayers in order to confound Dyce. What unlucky 
star ever sent you to his school ? I did not recognize 
him that day upon the street, though he knew me. It 
came to me afterwards. He lived in Boston for years 
— always, indeed, until he went abroad. My youtln 
ful career is perfectly familiar to him, and probably 
my later exploits. But if lie makes you uncomfortable 
in any way. I’ll — well, anything you choose. I know 


192 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


your window, Katey-did. You stood a long while be- 
fore it last night. You should have been sleeping, 
young woman, to keep tlie dusky eyes bright. Ah, 
Katey, Katey, it would be better if I had gone without 
seeing you. It Avould be better for you if I had never 
seen you at all. But do come to me this once. I mitst 
see you. B/’ 

The letter fell out of her hands. What did it mean ? 
What had happened ? and where was he going ? O, 
she must see him indeed ; she would write to him at 
once. Then she remembered that the time for that 
had passed. He would come to the garden, expect- 
ing to meet her there, and she must steal out to him 
like a thief in the night ! There was no help for it 
now. 

There was a sweep of trailing gowns outside ; high- 
pitched voices echoed through the hall ; doors opened 
and shut ; already the girls were preparing for a de- 
scent to the dull festivities. She thrust the letter 
into her pocket as a low rap sounded upon the door. 

“0, please,’' begged Clary Luckiwinner, entering 
timidly, will you tie my sash ? But you are not 
dressed ! Are you not going down ? ” 

“ Don’t wait for me,” Katey replied ; “ I fear I shall 
be late.” 

“ But you will wear some of my flowers? ” 

And Clary, prodigal of sweets, dropped a handful 
of blossoms upon Katey’s dressing-table as she hastened 
away. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


193 


CHAPTEE XYII. 

THE RED ROSE CRIES, SHE IS NEAR, SHE IS NEAR.” AND 
THE WHITE ROSE WEEPS, SHE IS LATE.” 

^HE company had gathered in the music-room and 
the library adjoining ; the girls were grouped 
about one of the pianos, with Professor Gr6te darting 
here and there, arranging the music, whispering a 
suggestion, and finally taking his place behind the 
player, and signifying by an upward motion of his 
head and baton that the madrigal, rehearsed so often 
for a month past, might now begin. Katey, drawing 
back behind Professor Paine, glanced at the clock just 
over Professor Grdte’s head. The minute and the 
hour hand had almost met at nine. The time had 
come. She must slip away now while they were 
singing. Refreshments would follow, and she would 
not be missed for a little time. But still she did not 
go. She only stood quite still, staring as though 
fascinated at the hands of the clock, while the song 
the girls were chanting rang through her head : — 

“I love my love in the morning, 

For she, like the morn, is fair — is fair.” 

At the last moment her courage had failed her, and 
yet she must go. 

Professor Byce, standing just within the library door, 

13 


194 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


watched her curiously. What had suddenly checked 
the very breath, as it seemed, upon her lips ? At 
what was the girl staring with such intent and almost 
frightened gaze ? When he looked again she Avas 
gone. She had opened the door behind her, and 
crossed the veranda to the school-room. A pile of 
shawls lay upon one of the desks here ; she caught up 
one as she passed, wrapped it about her, and then ran 
doAvn the stairs leading to the class-rooms, at the foot 
of which was a door opening under the high veranda 
upon the garden. The hall was dark ; but the door 
once found, it was easy to turn the key in the lock. 
The cool evening air touched her face. There was a 
faint rustling outside. But it Avas only the dead 
leaves of the woodbine swirled by a sudden gust of 
wind. The garden was not an inviting place at its 
best, and Avas gloomy enough at this hour. It was 
raised above the street, from which it was separated by 
a wall. This wall, with a row of half- dead poplars, 
extended also across one side, shutting it in from its 
neighbors. The two school-buildings completed the 
square. The ground was irregular and grass-grown, 
showing by daylight faint traces of paths and flower- 
beds. It was denuded of everything now, save these 
old poplars and a clump of willows overhanging the 
street close by the school-buildings. 

She gathered the white drapery of her gown about 
her, and listened a moment before stepping out. 
There was no sound from the veranda, and the Avin- 
dows of the practising-closets, overlooking the garden, 
were silent and dark. A form moved out from the 
clump of Avillows, and came to meet her. What if it 
should not be Dacre, after all ? He caught her as she 
shrank back. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


195 


Katey ? Why, how wliite-you are — even to your 
face ! Did I frighten you ? 

“ 0, how dared you come ? ” she exclaimed. 

^ Dared ! ’’ He laughed scornfully. I tell you, 
Katey, if you had not met me I would have — ” 

Hush ! hush ! ” for his voice had risen danger- 
ously. 

Come away, then ; ” and he led her down to the 
foot of the garden. 

Overhead the stars shone bright and clear ; but a 
soft, dusky cloud seemed to have dropped upon the 
earth. Was it this which had suddenly come between 
them ? The slender branches of the willows stirred 
with a faint, sighing sound ; a fitful wind rustled tlie 
dead leaves upon the grass ; a passing step below 
lagged, and paused, then went on, growing faint at 
last in the distance. 

What are they doing in there ? ” Dacre motioned 
towards the house. 

They were singing when I came out. I can only 
stay a moment ; they would miss me,” she added, 
quickly. 

‘‘ And if they did ? — if they found you here — ” 

‘‘ I should be disgraced before them all.” 

For me;” and there was something like triumph 
in his voice. 

It would do nothing for you,” she said, sadly. 

She had been filled with apprehension, and yet witli 
a strange joy at the thought of seeing him again. 
Does anything ever come to us as we dream it will ? 
Was it because of this other, lesser fear of being found 
here — of being shamed before the school — that even 
the wonder and anxiety which his note awakened had 


196 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


fled noW; and she was conscious only — of what? 
Was it disappointment? 

A plague on respectability ; it is too delicate a 
garment for me,” he said, with a laugh which jarred 
upon Katey even more than the words. I threw 
mine away some time ago.” 

Hush ! ” she said again. It pains me to hear you 
speak so, even in a jest. Tell me about all these 
weeks since I saw you last. I have only a moment 
to stay.” 

Tell you?^^ he said, turning upon her fiercely. 

You don’t know what you ask. You have not heard, 
then ? They have not written you ? ” he went on, 
eagerly. 

I have heard nothing but what you yourself wrote 
me.” All her anxiety returned now. “ 0, what has 
happened ? Where are you going ? ” 

But he did not seem to hear her question. They 
will say hard things of me, I know ; but, Katey,” and 
he clutched her arm so that with difficulty she re- 
frained from crying out, “ you will not believe them ? ” 
Was it the pain brought the sob with her words ? 
‘‘ I will believe you. Tell me the truth. Tell me 
now, Dacre.” 

Suddenly the sound of voices broke out into the 
night. There was the sweeping of garments over the 
veranda. I must go,” whispered Katey. I have 
staid too long. But don’t leave me so. Come to the 
house, and ask for me to-morrow.” 

“ Come to the house ! Not I. Ho you go to church 
ever in the evening ? ” 

Yes.” 

And alone ? ” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


107 


“ Sometimes.” 

I’ll see you then to-morrow night. No matter 
when and where ; I shall not miss you.” He swung 
himself over the wall, and disappeared. 

The voices had ceased. It was only a party of 
girls crossing the veranda. They had passed on, and 
the place was still again. Katey stood for a moment 
leaning against the wall where he had left her. And 
this was the meeting she had looked forward to for 
weeks past ! This was the new life which was to 
come to him through her ! What had happened to 
him she could not tell, ’but no good, she was sure. 
And for the first time she realized the burden slie had 
taken upon herself — realized how little she could hope 
to influence him, and how ready he was to fall into the 
old channels which led, she knew not where, but away 
from everything good, and honest, and true. But she 
had known something of this from the first, if she had 
only paused to think, if she had only acknowledged it 
to herself; should she turn away from him, now that 
he was in trouble ? 0, no ; never ! She would be 

true to him in the face of the whole world, tliough her 
heart was heavy and sad, and full of forebodings as 
she made the vow. She crossed the garden, locked 
the door behind her, and ran up the stairs without 
meeting any one. It was only when her hand was 
upon the door of the music-room that she remembered 
the shawl still wrapped about her shoulders. Slie 
carried it back to the desk where she had found it. 
Then she saw that the pretty white gown, whose folds 
she held, was wet with dew. She shook it out wliile 
she waited a moment to still her hurried breatliing 
before joining the others. 


198 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


The music-room was quite deserted ; the company 
had returned to the parlors. As she stood a moment 
in the library, where some of the girls lingered, a 
voice spoke in her ear, “ What a fine color ! Pray 
where did you find it ? She turned, and met Miss 
Wormley’s face drawn into a smile that was more than 
lialf a sneer. Ah, what a pity ! You have stained 
your gown.^’ It was true ; the slimy moss from the 
Avail had left its mark. It is still quite fresh ; let 
me remove it ; ” and she took out lier handkerchief. 

Don’t trouble yourself ; it is nothing,” Katey re- 
plied, coldly ; but growing red and white by turns as 
she drew her dress away, Avhile the girls, grouped 
about eating their ices, looked up to wonder, not un- 
derstanding this by-jjlay. There had been another 
silent witness of the scene, who came forward noAv. 

Allow me ; you have not been served, I see,” Pro- 
fessor Dyce said, putting a plate into Katey’s hand, 
lie seemed to have forgotten his annoyance at her 
stupidity the other evening, as Avell as the part of spy 
he had played the day before, as, turning his back 
upon and quite ignoring IMiss Wormley, he chatted 
gravely, but graciously, for the fcAV moments before the 
breaking up of the company — about Avhat she could 
not have told. She only felt grateful that his words 
called for rare and brief response, and served to banish 
her tormentor. 

She was passing through the music-room on her 
Avay to breakfast the next morning, Avhen President 
Jlumphrey called to her from the library. 

Pray, calm your fears,” he said, as she ansAvered 
the summons Avith a sinking heart, Avhich shoAved it- 
self in her startled face ; “ Ave have no fault to find with 
you — have we, Dyce?” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


199 


Then she saw that Professor Dyce was writing be- 
fore the table by the window. I beg your pardon ? ” 
he said, interrogatively, raising his eyes for an instant, 
and then returning to his writing again. 

The president laughed as he shuffled the letters in 
his hand. He was greatly amused at the awe he 
fancied his presence had inspired in the mind of his 
junior teacher. “ Miss Katherine Earle,’^ he read, 
selecting one. It was for this I called you back, 
not to scold you. Pyce, here, gives me a very good 
account of your stewardship.’' So he had praised 
her ! The pen had ceased to scratch over the paper 
at the other end of the room. Professor Dyce raised 
his head. You have managed your classes exceed- 
ing well,” he said. 

That was all ! There was a reservation, she felt, in 
his tone and his commendation. She made a little 
comprehensive courtesy as she received her letter. 
It might imply thanks, if he chose to consider it so ; 
at least it hid the tears which sprang to her eyes. 
Then she quitted the room. 

The letter was from Delphine. She had recognized 
the handwriting even before the president gave it to 
her. She remembered Dacre’s words, Delphine or 
Jack will write you.” Then came the appeal, But 
you will not believe them ! ” What was she not to 
believe ? She had hardly courage to open the letter 
when she was once locked into her room. Here she 
might stay through all the morning, alone. It was 
not her turn to take the girls to church, and her ab- 
sence would not be remarked upon. 

My dear Katey,” the letter said, how dreadful it 
is that Dacre Home should be involved in that bank 


200 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


affair ! I really can think of nothing else. The cash- 
ier told Robert that he doubted if it could be proved 
that he was one of the gang ; but there was no doubt 
about it in his own mind. They have caught some of 
them, as you may have heard. I cannot but hope 
he may escape, however. It would be so painful for 
the family — even if he were not convicted. And to 
think we have known him so well ! Of course, now, 
we shall never see him again. I am sorry we met him 
so often at the sea-side ; indeed, I regret that he ever 
came there at all. I used to fancy sometimes that he 
was fond of you ; I fairly shudder at the thought ; and 
yet, how foolish to refer to it; I was mistaken, of 
course. But how shocking it is ! Where he is now, 
no one knows. It is supposed that he has escaped to 
Canada. But enough of this ; ’’ and she proceeded to 
speak of other matters, which Avere as sticks and 
straws to poor Katey, who stared at the words, taking 
in nothing of their meaning. As to the first part of 
the letter, it was impressed as by fire upon her brain. 
They all condemned him ; they all believed him guilty ; 
but there rose Avithin her a conviction, a blessed con- 
viction, Avithout Avhich she felt she must have fallen 
Avhere she stood, that he had spoken the truth to her 
the night before, and that he Avas innocent. Nothing 
should shake her in this belief. 

And Delphine had fancied he was fond of her; but 
acknoAvledged now that she had been mistaken ! Del- 
phine, Avho had encouraged him ; who had talked to 
her of hoAv cruel society had been to this handsome 
boy ; who had sat through all the long summer days 
Avith her hands folded in her lap, giving countenance 
to the pretty play which seemed to end like a tragedy ; 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


201 


who had even pleaded with her for him ! Had she 
forgotten it all ? In truth, poor Delphine had written 
from her perplexity and self-reproach, hoping, by ignor- 
ing the past, to warn her of the future, if, indeed, 
warning were necessary. But she misjudged Katey. 
To one who has enlisted heart and soul in a warfare, 
the time to waver is not when the foe appears ; to one 
who has really taken upon himself vows, the time to 
doubt is not when the rack is brought out. She would 
never desert him now. 

She folded up the letter, and laid it away. She was 
dizzy and ill, — and yet she must not be ill. She must 
see him to-night, at any cost. She would rest now ; 
and she crept into bed, forcing herself to compose her 
body and close her eyes, and so she lay through all 
the long morning. Sleep was impossible ; but she 
would rest, she said over and over again. Clary came 
at noon, and brought a cup of tea, and at night she 
rose and dressed herself, and went down with the 
others. 


202 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


CHAPTER XYIII. 

A CHAIN TO WEAK. 

“ YOU are going out ! ” exclaimed Clary, in a 
vy , tone of disappointment, as Katey passed her 
open door, an hour after tea, dressed for the street. 

Yes,” Katey replied. She would not say to 
church,” though the words sprang to her lips. She 
felt that she should not go to church. Then she went 
on hurriedly, lest Clary should question her further. 
As she crossed the music-room, the door at the foot 
of the stairs, which led to the dormitories above, 
opened, and some one brushed past her. It was Miss 
Wormley, attired in her hat and shawl, and evidently 
on her way to the street. The sight brought a mo- 
mentary surprise, for Miss Wormley, Katey knew, 
was in the habit of gathering the girls upon her hall 
into a Bible class Sabbath evenings. The library was 
empty, the door of the school- parlor was half open ; 
before one of the windows stood Miss Wormley, who 
had not yet gone out, fastening her glove. But Katey 
did not glance in. She opened the outer door, and de- 
scended the high steps. No one was in sight ; the 
sky was overcast, and already the twilight had gath- 
ered. What if she should miss him, after all ? She 
moved slowly up the street, hearing the faint echo of 
a step behind her. Did it follow her ? It drew nearer. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


2oa 

gaining upon her each moment. It was Dacre, she 
knew now, and turned to meet him. He took her 
hand and laid it in his arm without speaking. Even 
in the dim light she could see how haggard, and worn, 
and changed was his face. He was hunted, she 
knew. Even now his pursuers might be upon his 
track. Involuntarily she drew near to him. Lights 
were beginning to shine in the windows along the 
street, where the curtains were not yet drawn. There 
were mothers with children in their arms, there were 
children alone, and once she caught a glimpse of two 
lovers, sitting within the circle of soft light, with 
clasped hands and heads bent close together, — while 
Hacre and she wandered on up the deserted street in 
the dreary darkness. Did he wait for her to speak ? 

I have had a letter from Delphine,’^ she said, at 

last. 

Her hand was within his arm. She felt him start. 

“ She told a hard story. 111 warrant,’^ he said, dog- 
gedly. 

She told no story at all. She referred to — to 
what had happened, as thougli I knew it already ; and 
she said — 

That I did it,’* broke in Dacre. I had nothing to 
do with it. I tell you, Katey, I knew nothing at all 
about it until it was over.^’ 

Some one passing upon the other side of the street 
paused, as if to listen, as the excited voice rose above 
the stillness of tlie Sabbath night. 

“ 0, come away ; ’’ and Katey hastened her steps. 
Do come away ; ” and she drew him on up the street. 
Had some one followed them ? But no ; the step 
sounded again upon the walk, over the way, slowly 
retreating. 


204 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


^^What did she say, then ? 

That you were suspected/^ 

But I was ten miles from the place. 

Then why was your name mentioned ? ” 

Because I had been seen, occasionally, with Blake 
and Dugan, who were caught.’’ 

So these were his associates ! A companion of 
thieves ! 

And these were your friends ! ” she said. 0, 
Dacre ! Dacre ! ” 

Yes, I knoAv,” he answered, moodily, you are 
prejudiced, like every one else. But a man must have 
some friends, and they are not so bad, after all. Poor 
Katey ! ” he went on, more gently. “ I would have 
kept it from you if I could. I might, but for Del- 
phine’s cursed interference. The world has cast me 
off, Katey. I stand upon one side, and you upon the 
other. There is a sea between us.” 

“ Because you have drifted away. Come back. 0, 
it is so cruel ! H breaks my heart ! ” she cried. They 
had gone on without aim or purpose, turning into one 
street after another, and descending the hill again at 
last. The wall of the school garden, which Dacre had 
scaled the night before, rose beside them now. Ka- 
tey ’s violent sobs attracted the attention of a plainly- 
dressed woman, who looked back as she passed. 
Dacre drew her across the street, where no flaring 
light lit up the darkness. Here was a church in pro- 
cess of erection. The confusion of brick and stone 
rendered the walk almost impassable. They threaded 
their tortuous way to the great arched door, where 
they could find a shelter and a screen. Katey sank 
down upon the stone threshold, and buried her head 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


205 


in her arms. “ Don’t,” Dacre said, impatiently, laying 
a heavy hand upon her shoulder ; “ I hate to see a wo- 
man cry.” 

She strove hard to control herself. She raised her 
face, all wet with tears. It was the disappointment 
and the pain,” she said. I thought it would be dif- 
ferent, and it is so dreadful to bear ! Try to be patient 
with me, Dacre ; it is all so dreadful to hear ! ” 

“ Why don’t you curse me, and wash your hands of 
me, then, like the rest of them ? ” 

He did not mean to be cruel ; lie Avas beside himself 
with remorse and anxiety, and a shame he would not 
own. 

“ How could I ? ” she replied, with a kind of wonder 
in her eyes. 

His face dropped into his hands. He was not 
ashamed to be ashamed at last. “ I am not Avorth one 
of your tears,” he said. ‘‘ I’ll tell you the truth iioav, 
if never again : You are wild to care for me. It can 
bring you nothing but unhappiness. Forget that you 
ever knew me ; leave me to go to my own place alone. 
I shall find it soon enough,” he added, bitterly. 

It is too late for that, unless ^ — are you tired of 
me, Dacre ? Am I a burden to you ? ” 

Tired of you ! Good God Katey I don’t tempt a 
man. Think a moment. Let me be honest with you for 
once. Think what all this will bring upon you. If you 
keep faith with me, there will be a secret to carry, — 
for years, perhaps ; and what a reward at last ! — to 
bear my name and share in my disgrace ! ” 

She shook her head. “ I cannot give you up.” 

“ Then come away with me ! ” he exclaimed, stretch- 
ing out his arms to her. Marry me to-night. Be- 


206 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


fore morning I must be miles from here. What do 
you care for those stupid prigs over there ? mo- 
tioning towards the school. What are they to you ? 
Nothing at all. Jack and Delphine have their own 
interests ; you are alone in the world. Come ! ” 

Why should she not ? Had not Delphine made the 
path plain before her feet ? And Jack was lost to lier 
now ; he had Josie Durant. As for the disgrace that 
would follow — the handsome, passionate, pleading 
face, turned towards her with the outstretched hands, 
made that to weigh as a straw only in the balance. 
There are moments when the world seems to drop 
away, leaving two to stand alone, — moments when 
worldly opinions count for nothing. How would it be 
with him ? How with her ? That was all. 

Tell me,^' she said, “ should we go alone, you and 
I? Where are these men whom Delphine wrote were 
with you ? ’’ 

He hesitated. “ Yes, we should go alone. At least, 
you need never see or know them.’’ 

She caught his arm in sudden terror. “ They are 
taking you away ! ” she said, and her voice was like a 
cry. “ They would take you away from me ! What 
could I do against them ? 0, stay and face it all. If 

you love me, stay. I would never desert you, not 
even at the worst.” 

‘‘But you don’t know, — you don’t realize. Why, 
Katey, they might put. me in prison ! ” 

“ How could they, if you were innocent ? Or, if 
they did, it would not be for long. There are worse 
fates than prisons over innocent men. We wouldn’t 
mind it ; ” and she drew near to him as she spoke. 
“ Perhaps, then, these dreadful people who lead you 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


207 


on would forget you. And, after a while, we would 
come out,’’ she said, almost brightly, and go away 
somewhere, the world is so wide, you know ; we’d go 
away where no one knew us, and begin again. Or, if 
we chose, since you are innocent, we need not be 
ashamed to stay, and live it down.” 

You true girl ! ” But he turned away from her 

It cannot be. I told you, Katey, there was a sea 
between us ; and well for you. You are right,” he 
added, sadly ; “ it would be madness for you to go with 
me. I was a wretch to ask it.” 

A man had been moving back and forth upon the 
opposite side of the street, so stealthily that they had 
not noticed him. As they stepped out from the 
arched doorway, he went on slowly, giving a low, pe- 
culiar whistle. Dacre started. “ I must go,” he said. 
Again the signal came. It caught Katey ’s ear. Do 
they call you ? ” she gasped, growing white. Have 
they come for you ? 0, don’t go. Don’t go. I’ll do 

anything, go anywhere, only don’t let them take you 
away.” She threw her arms about his neck, as though 
her feeble strength could hold him. 

“ Hush, hush ! it is too late for that : ” and he strove 
gently to free himself. Hush, child ; poor girl ! Be 
brave, Katey, for I must leave you now.” The street 
was beginning to fill with people. The churches were 
out. Katey heard the moving feet upon the walk. 
She raised her white face. Then you will go,” she 
said, with strange calmness. 

“ I must ; ” and she pleaded no more. 

As they passed up the side street leading to the 
house, followed by the dusky figure which had been 
groping along in the shadow of the wall, a woman’s 


208 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


skirt brushed them. A dull, pallid face, with blinking, 
red-rimmed eyes, was turned towards them for an in- 
stant, as Miss Wormley hastened by. 

0, what did Katey care if they all saw her — if they 
all knew ? Nothing, at this moment. “ Leave me 
here,” she said, when they had reached the corner. 
She could see that crouching figure over the way, — 
like an evil spirit dogging their footsteps. But Dacre 
went on to the high stone steps. If they see me 
from the house, they’ll only think you have a friend, 
Katey. They will never imagine that I am your worst 
enemy,” he added, bitterly. 

The figure over the way moved out from the shadow 
of the doorway, where it had been hidden, and crossed 
the street towards them. Katey clutched Dacre’s 
arm. He, too, saw it draw near. The last moment 
had come, the parting more cruel than death — holding 
out no hope for the future. He caught her cold hands 
in his as she stood upon the steps above him. Kiss 
me, Katey,” he said, hoarsely. She heeded neither the 
figure moving towards them, nor the passers upon the 
street. The windows of the house might be opened 
wide. What did it matter to her though all the world 
should see ? She stooped and kissed him. My heart 
will break,” she said. Then in a moment he was gone, 
tlie door had closed upon her, and she was flying, as 
though pursued, through the house, across the ve- 
randa, up the stairs to her own room. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


209 


CHAPTER XIX. 

FAR FROM THE EYES, FAR FROM THE HEART ! 

T he days were shortening now, and growing cold. 

A rime covered the grass of the garden in the 
early morning. The elms had scattered all their 
leaves, and the Virginia creei)er against the wall 
moved thin, bare arms in the chilling autumn wind. 
The wide veranda was deserted. Tlie girls gathered, 
after school hours, about the high stove in tlie music- 
room, or in tlie wide dormitory halls. In the class- 
rooms everything moved on with tedious regularity. 
Katey discharged her duties with conscientious 
fidelity, the more from knowing how little of her 
heart was in them. 0, the inexpressible anxiety and 
yearning of these days ! like that of the apostle, who 
could wish himself accursed for the sake of his breth- 
ren. It seemed to her that she could have borne the 
torments of the lost, if by that means Dacre might be 
drawn from the dangers which surrounded him. He 
had disregarded her prayers and tears ; he had chosen 
to go away from her ; he had deliberately taken up 
with a life which must lead, sooner or later, to crime. 
He had joined hands with those who set themselves 
against society, who hold that any weapons are lawful 
and fair in the warfare they wage with authority — 
and yet she could not give him up. She looked forward 
14 


210 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


to no happy future, she saw no light in the darkness, 
and yet she held fast to her promise and to him. She 
could bear not to be happy, she could miss of blessed- 
ness, if she could only rescue him from the snares 
which held him. So far she had failed of accomplish- 
ing her desire. She had done what she could, and it 
had not availed. She knew nothing of him now. He 
had written one brief note, post-marked she could not 
tell where, full of self-reproach for the wrong he was 
doing her, but with no hint or suggestion of plans, 
associates, or surroundings. To this she had replied 
at once, as he desired her to do, under cover of an- 
other name, to a town where she was confident lie 
was not. 

A month had passed since then, and she had heard 
nothing. She could do nothing but wait — and pray. 
She had read of men turned in the midst of their sins 
by a mighty arm. Was it not possible now ? 0, if 

she could but have the faith to believe, might it not 
be so ? Many times in the day she breathed her lit- 
urgy of confession and supplication. It bore always 
the same burden, but yet lost never its fervent spirit 
and strong desire. But, above all, did she not forget 
it at church, when the whole congregation knelt, — the 
girls whispering and staring though upon their knees ; 
it seemed as though He would be more inclined to 
hear and heed when the minister and the people prayed 
together. 

Professor Dyce marked her in these days, — a 
gray- clad figure, with a face growing whiter and 
more absorbed every day, — slipping away from the 
table before he had left his place, stealing through 
the music-room in the early twilight like a ghost, too 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


211 


unreal to be addressed, who would vanish away if ap- 
proached. 

She seldom came down now to the Friday even- 
ing readings when he sat in the desk ; but the early 
morning prayers, when the letters were distributed, 
always found her in her place — one of the last desks 
in the room, which no one of the girls had chosen. 
He felt the great dark eyes fixed upon him with a 
painfully eager expression as he turned over the pile 
of letters, reading the name upon each aloud as he 
spread them out. He knew that the face grew still 
whiter, the lines about the mouth more tense, as 
one after another was laid down, even to the last. 
Then in the confusion, as the girls rose, she vanished 
away. 

He knew more than she dreamed of his knowing. 
He had never forgotten the day when he met her upon 
the street Avith Dacre Home, when her face told its 
OAvn story. '' Ah, poor girl, is it so ? ” he had said to 
himself, struck by the face, and knowing Dacre Home. 
He had been inclined to think his pity Avasted Avhen 
he met her again, decked out so fantastically at the 
J unction ; and yet, later, Avhen she appeared so unex- 
pectedly at the school, Avhen, too beAvildered to act, 
he had Avaited and Avatched, he had been inclined to 
doubt again his judgment. Noav, reading of this bank 
robbery, Avliich had been blazoned to the world 
through the neAvspapers, and being privately advised 
that Dacre Home was implicated, though his name 
had not appeared, he thought, first of all, of the effect 
upon this inexplicable girl. He marked her uneasi- 
ness the night of the school reception, he missed her 
from the room, and overheard Miss Wormley^s mali- 


212 


J^A THERINE EARLE. 


cious comments upon her return. He even interfered 
to rid her of them, pitying her confusion. He hated 
himself for unconsciously watching her ; he hated Miss 
Wormley still more for slyly underrating tier at every 
opportunity. The morning after passing Katey and 
Dacre upon the street that Sabbath evening, when, in 
fact, suspecting something, and following her, she had 
seen the meeting, heard Katey’s irrepressible sobs, 
and, peering from the darkened windows of the school 
parlor, been shocked at the manner in which they 
parted, — Miss Wormley sought Professor Dyce, and, 
in the absence of the president, laid the whole matter 
before him. 

He heard her general remarks without suspect- 
ing their bearing, — her observations upon teachers 
who were given to clandestine meetings in the gar- 
den, who wept upon the shoulders of young men, and 
kissed them voluntarily at parting, — yes, actually 
kissed them from the very steps of the house, where 
any one might see. Then, at last, she spoke Katey^s 
name. 

The professor was sitting before the desk in his 
study. He had laid down his pen reluctantly to listen 
to her story. Complaints from Miss Wormley^s lips 
were by no means rare, and he gave little heed to 
what she was saying.' But at the mention of this name 
he flushed so fierce a red, he sprang so suddenly to 
his feet, that she started back in dismay. 

“ Woman ! ’’ he said, in a startling voice, have you 
no shame ? What are Miss Earle’s friends to you or 
me, that we should play the spy upon her ? ” He 
pointed to the door, and she went out, but not before 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


213 


she had turned, in her anger at being foiled, and vowed 
to be revenged. 

The professor paced the floor witli rapid strides 
when the door closed after her. He tried not to recall 
what she had said ; but every word, carelessly as he 
had heard it, stood out now as though in alto-relievo. 
The various circumstances wove themselves together 
in his mind, and it was I)acre Home, he knew, whom 
Miss Wormley had seen with Katey. Was the girl 
bereft of her senses ? Had she no friends to warn 
her? 

The wind and rain beat dismally against the win- 
dow-panes of the school-room, where, in the chill, gray 
morning light, the girls had gathered for prayers, the 
curls pinned up hastily, tlie pretty feminine fineries 
not yet assumed, as one after another straggled down 
from the dormitories above, or ran across the veranda 
from the other house. 

A tall, slight figure, wrapped in a little red shawl, 
stole down the broad, winding stairs at the end of the 
room, and took its accustomed place before one of the 
last desks, as Professor Dyce, moving the pile of wait- 
ing letters aside, opened the Bible before him to find 
the morning lesson. 

Katey closed her eyes, and, compressing her lips, 
waited. It would be a long chapter, — fifty verses, 
perhaps, which the girls would drone responsively, — 
about the Jews ; for the morning lessons were from 
the Old Testament; and the Jews seemed so far 
away ! She waited for the voice to begin — to hear 
how such a king slew his thousands, and another his 
tens of thousands. 0, how could she wait ? God for- 
give her, she did not want to hear of the triumphs of 


214 


KA THERINE EARLE. 


His people ; she only wanted in her own hands for a 
moment that pile of little white forget-me-no{s, lying 
upon the desk. 

The professor’s voice — solemn, deep, low — made 
a hush to fall upon the room. Little children, let no 
man deceive you ; He that doeth righteousness is 
righteous, even as He is righteous. He that commit- 
teth sin is of the devil.” 

Katey’s heart stood still. This was not the Jews. 
She raised her head and fixed her wistful eyes upon 
the reader. If there would only come some word to 
her ! He that committeth sin is of the devil.” Not 
Hacre — it could not mean Dacre ! 

Again the words caught her ear, “ Hereby perceive 
we the love of God, because he laid down his life for 
us ; and we ought to lay down our lives for the 
brethren.” 

And so she would gladly, God knew. Yes, this was 
for her. 

Her heart was lighter than it had been for weeks. 
Even when the letters were taken up, and the names 
read aloud slowly, though the blood sprang to her face 
as her heart gave a great throb, she tried to still its 
beating. I can wait,” she said to herself, while the 
flush slowly died away as one name after another fell 
upon her ear. It ivill come ” — the answer to the 
prayer. The girls rose ; there was confusion slowly 
settling into silence as those who had no letters 
hastened away, and the others soon followed. Katey 
lingered. The shadow of disappointment had fallen 
upon her 5 only the shadow, not the lieavy weight 
which had crushed her during so many weeks that 
were past. can wait,” she was saying to herself 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


215 


over and over again. The answer will surely come. 
But if it could be soon ! 

It was chilly in the school-room, and disappointment 
is a chill. She wrapped the little shawl close about 
her, and let her head rest again upon the desk as it 
had lain in prayer time. A movement at the farther 
end of the room interrupted the stillness. She raised 
her head quickly ; she had thought herself alone. It 
was only Professor Dyce, who had not gone, it seemed. 
He laid the papers he had been arranging within the 
desk, turned the key, and descended from the plat- 
form. As he did so, his glance fell upon Katey, who 
had risen, undecided by which mode of exit she should 
leave the room, ashamed to make use of the stairs be- 
hind her, lest slie should appear to flee from him. He 
decided the question by walking directly down the 
aisle. The movement was so deliberate, that she 
judged him to have a conscious purpose in seeking 
her. It was something in regard to her classes, un- 
doubtedly, and she ran them over hurriedly in her 
mind, to recall, if possible, where she had been remiss 
or failed in her duty. But he seemed in no haste to 
enter upon the subject. 

You have appropriated this corner to yourself? ’’ 
he began, graciously, making a slight motion with his 
hand for Katey to resume her seat. 

“ I come here sometimes to read ; it is very quiet 
out of school hours, when the girls are gone,’^ she 
stammered, thinking what a refuge this place had 
been. But of that slie could not speak. 

But your room — do the girls intrude upon you 
there ? ” 

They are always welcome.’’ 


216 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Yes, I know ; ’’ and he smiled a little sarcastically. 
“ That is the formula one is expected to repeat. Still 
there is a limit to all hospitality. You come here to 
read,” he repeated. “ You do not go to the library, 
then ? ” 

0, yes, every day, to look over the news- 
papers,” she replied, quickly. Then she blushed, 
feeling his keen eyes upon her. Did he know about 
Dacre ? 

I should hardly think the detail of crimes and 
casualties with which our press is filled just now 
would interest you. That bank robbery, by the way, 
was a bold operation. Planned and executed evi- 
dently by experienced burglars. Strange how these 
outlaws sit before the gates of society, ready to spring 
in wherever there are signs of weakness.” He had 
removed his eyes from the bent head and trembling 
hands which held tight the little shawl. “ What can 
be done with this class ? ” he added, gently — ‘‘ ex- 
cept to fight and keep it at bay ? ” 

The question so vital carried the girl beyond 
herself ‘‘ 0, what can be done ? ” she repeated, 
eagerly, forgetting her caution, and showing all her 
heart. 

Believe me, nothing — by such as you,” he re- 
plied, earnestly — so earnestly that she could not fail 
to comprehend his meaning. “ Association is contami- 
nation ; and think of the inequality : it is one against 
a thousand. For they are banded together like an 
army.” 

A strange light shone in Katey’s face, as though the 
sun had risen suddenly upon her. One against a thou- 
sand ! But one and God could overcome a thousand. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


217 


He wondered what should cause the radiance in 
her countenance. Certainly not his words. He could 
not understand the girl. 

The first mutterings of the distant gong reached 
their ears. Katey rose hastily, and with a little obei- 
sance slipped away up the stairs behind her. 


218 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


CHAPTER XX. 


AND ONE WAS FAR APART, AND ONE WAS NEAR.^^ 
HE Christmas holidays brought a change ; many 



-L of the girls went home ; Jack’s wedding called 
Katey to Easton, Avhere was Josie Durant’s home. 
She was sitting in Josie’s own room after the cere- 
mony, in the midst of the confusion incident upon a 
wedding, a journey, and a final departure from home. 
The satin gown, fluffy with lace, the delicate veil and 
wreath of orange blossoms, prepared with such care, 
were thrown carelessly now upon the bed ; the dainty 
slippers, in which the dainty little lady had stepped 
from familiar girl-land over the boundary into a strange 
and wonderful country, dropped where the little feet 
had left them. The bride was arrayed in her travel- 
ling costume, for the wedding breakfast was over, 
and the guests, with the exception of a few most 
familiar friends, had gone. She was putting the last 
touches to her toilet at this moment, settling the 
elegant little bonnet upon her head, and fastening her 
gloves. Please, Katey,” she said, holding out her 


Avrist. 


“ It brings back the first time I ever saw you; to 
knoAv you at all,” Katey said, taking the little hand in 
her oAvn. I buttoned your glove then — do you re- 
member? The night of Janie Home’s party.” 


ICATHERINE EARLE. 


219 

^How odd that you should have remembered such 
a little tiling/^ Josie replied. “No, I don’t recall it. 
But I remember Jack and you. Who ever would 
have thought then that Jack and I would grow up to 
marry each other? ” Josie was little given to dream- 
ing, but she fell into a reverie over this. 

‘'It IS all strange,” said Katey ; and there was a 
one of sadness in her voice. Josie gave her a sharp, 
anxious glance. 

“ Are you quite well, dear ? ” 

“ 0, yes.” 

“ I fancied you were thinner than you used to be.” 
She crossed the room upon some pretext. When she 
returned, she paused behind Katey’s chair, and, leaning 
over, clasped the little gloved hands loosely about her 
neck. “ There is something I have wanted to speak 
of ever since you came. But the house has been so 
full of company that we have never had a moment 
alone.” 

Katey made no reply. She had looked for this, and 
braced herself to meet it, every day since lier arrival. 
She had ceased to expect it now, believing the whole 
matter to have slipped from the mind of her friend. 

“ You have heard of that bank robbery, of course,” 
Josie went on, timidly, feeling her way, as it were. 

“ And you know what is said of Dacre ? ” 

“ But it is not true,” Katey burst out. “ There is 
no truth in it. He was miles away when the bank was 
broken into ; ” and freeing herself hastily, she rose up 
and walked aAvay to the window. 

“ What do you mean ? ” Josie’s face fairly paled 
with affright. “ 0, Katey ! You have not seen him ? ” 
But Katey had made her denial, and would say no 


220 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


more. She had promised to keep his visit a secret. 
Had she not almost broken that promise in her eager- 
ness to defend him ? There was the rattle of wheels 
under the window. Jack tapped at the door. ‘‘ The 
carriage, Josie. Are you ready ? ’’ 

Yes, in one moment.’’ 

She drew Katey’s face down and kissed her. You 
will not trust me, but — tell Jack,” she said. 

Katey shook her head without speaking. Her eyes 
were full of tears. 

“ But you have seen him?” persisted Josie. 

Don’t ask me ; 1 can’t tell you ; ” and yet was this 
not almost admitting the truth ? “ There is nothing to 
tell,” she added, hastily. 

Where is he ? ” 

“ I don’t know, indeed. But O, I wish I did ! ” she 
exclaimed, breaking down at last, and sobbing out- 
right. 

“0, dear! what can I do?” Josie stared at her, 
troubled and helpless, as a chorus of voices from be- 
low called to her impatiently. 

“ There is nothing to do,” Katey said, checking her 
sobs. Don’t think of it again.” 

But I am afraid to go away. I don’t know what 
may happen to you.” 

Nothing dreadful, you may be sure,” Katey re- 
plied, with a hysterical laugh. She was angry and 
ashamed at having thus betrayed her feelings. I 
shall neither run away nor drown myself, you may be 
sure ; nor do anything else unusual. I am only tired 
and nervous. Don’t think about it ; ” and she has- 
tened to open the door. 

Tears are by no means unusual at a wedding, and 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


221 


Katey's wet eyes passed unnoticed. Only Jack 
marked them, and reproached liiinsell for having al- 
most forgotten her in his happiness. Remember, 
you are to come and live with us,” he said, leaning 
out from the carriage. '' Delphine, do keep Katey; 
lock her in, if necessary, until we return.” Then the 
carriage door closed with a bang, and in a gust of 
slippers the wedding party disappeared. 

“ It is absurd,” Delphine said, the next morning, as 
they sat alone over the early breakfast, prepared in 
anticipation of Katey’s departure by the first train. 

It is positively unreasonable for you to tie yourself 
to that horrid school. Think, if Robert and I go 
abroad next month, I shall not see you again. You 
might, at least, go home with me for a week.” But 
Katey felt that to be impossible. The term would 
commence the next day, and she must be in her place. 
And then, how did she know what had occurred in 
her absence ? What if Dacre had come again ? or 
there might be at least a letter awaiting her. 0, no ; 
she must go back at once. 

Dreadful, was it not, about Dacre Home ? ” Del- 
phine remarked, carelessly, when this question of Ka- 
tey’s return to school had been discussed and settled, 
as it had been every day since she came. 

^^Yes,” Katey replied, cautiously. She would be 
wiser than she had been with Josie. 

I was so glad to find you didn’t care for him,” 
Delphine went on in her pretty, hurried way. “I 
wouldn’t own it in my letter, and I don’t quite like to 
own it now, but I did half encourage his intimacy 
with you.” She had made her confession at last. 

I know you did,” Katey said, quietly. 


222 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“ And if you had learned to care for him, I should 
never have forgiven myself.’^ 

‘‘ How do you know that I didn’t learn to care for 
him ? ” was on her lips to ask ; but she held back the 
question. Why should she distress Helphine, who 
intended it all for good, and had only failed in judg- 
ment ? Still, one word she must speak, or her tongue 
would utter it of itself. A dangerous word ! Never- 
theless, she would dare much to defend the innocent 
and the absent. 

“ He had nothing to do with that robbery, I know,” 
she began. He may have associated with these 
men — ” 

“ Which is bad enough,” said Mrs. Estemere, who 
had not only lost all confidence in Hacre, but felt her- 
self personally ill used by his making himself thus 
shamefully notorious after having visited at her house. 

“It is, indeed,” Katey was obliged to confess. 
“ Still he had nothing to do with this, I am sure.” 

“ About that, of course, we cannot judge ; but it is all 
so thoroughly mortifying and disagreeable that we had 
better try to forget it and him ; ” and Mrs. Estemere 
rose from the table. 

Mrs. Durant entered the room at the same moment, 
fortunately for Katey, whose prudence was fast de- 
serting her ; the carriage was announced, and further 
conversation was out of the question. 

Delphine ran down the icy steps in her pink-bowed 
slippers for one more last word at the carriage door. 
“ If I shouldn’t see you again before we sail, you’ll 
write often, and you’ll take care of yourself, child ? 
Don’t do anything foolish, away off there. There are 
no young men ? ” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


223 


Only one/’ laughed Katey, rememl ering Mr. 
Milde. 

Ah, well, you are the pattern of discretion.” She 
leaned in at the carriage Avindow to kiss her warmly, 
then ran away up the steps again. 

The pattern of discretion ! If she only kneAv ! 
thought Katey, lying back in the carriage as it rolled 
aAvay to the station. 

It Avas almost night when she reached La Fayette 
and the Female College. One of the little girls ran 
after her as she passed the study-hall, to put a letter 
into her hand. She had not been sufficiently brave to 
Avalk into the room and look upon the desk for her- 
self; she Avas fairly sick Avith anxiety. She took the 
letter Avithout glancing at it, and hastened on. But 
Avhen she had run the gantlet of teachers and scholars, 
and, shut into her OAvn room, at last dared to turn it 
over and read its superscription, the second shock was 
greater tlian the first. It Avas not from Dacre at all ; 
it Avas from Mina Hauser, slie saAv at once. Only a 
foAv lines Avritton in liaste to say they AAmre in La 
Fayette for a couple of days, and hoped to see her. 
She looked at tlio date. It Avas three days before. 
She must seek tliem at once. It might noAV be too 
late. Slie hastened to retrace her steps througli the 
house, ashamed of the indifference Avith Avhich she 
had read Mina’s announcement. But the disappoint- 
ment had been bitter. Slie Avas dulled to everything 
save this: Where Avas Dacre? Wliy was it that she 
heard notliing from him ? Even the Avarm greetings 
she met upon tlie Avay, as one group of girls after 
another was passed, lirought no pleasure. She Avas 
ill, and cold, and despairing, and yet she Avent on to 


224 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


seek her friends. There is an instinct which takes 
the place of volition at times, and sets us in the way 
where we ought to walk, and make us perform the 
acts expected of us, pulling the wires, and holding a 
mask before our faces. 

She found the little hotel from which the letter had 
been written in one of the narrow streets of the town, 
down by the station. She was just in time ; the well- 
worn trunks were strapped, and standing in the en- 
trance hall. Wulf had already left the house, Christine 
and her father were coming down the stairs on their 
way to the street. 

‘‘ Ah, is it possible ? ” cried the little old man. We 
have sent twice to the school since Mina wrote, and 
each time they said you had not come back.” 

I have but this moment returned,” Katey replied, 
warmly kissing Christine, who seemed much brighter 
and stronger than when they met last. After all, it 
was pleasant to see them again. I am sorry,” the 
little old man went on, but Christine has an errand 
she is obliged to do before we go, and we have no 
time to lose. However, Mina is here, and you will 
stay with her until we return.” 

'' Ah, Katrine, is it you ? ” exclaimed Mina, flying 
down the dingy stairway to embrace her. She 
dragged her up the stairs to the stuffy little inn 
parlor, chattering all the time, asking a hundred ques- 
tions, and waiting for no one of them to be answered. 

'' And Christine? ” Katey said, at last, when they had 
exhausted every other subject of mutual interest; 
when Mina had described their wanderings since she 
wrote, a month or two before, and mentioned the Shep- 
parts incidentally, but with a vivid blush over the 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


225 


intelligence that Hans had won his place in the or- 
chestra, and was coming to meet them at their next 
stopping-place. 

‘‘ 0, Christine is better. Don’t you think so ? And 
the young man of whom I told you has been to see 
her. I cannot understand it,” Mina said, thoughtfully, 
‘‘ nor him. Something evidently weighed upon his 
mind. I overheard him once reproaching himself to 
her. He wished he was dead, he said j he brought 
only misery and wretchedness to everybody. And 
now he has gone away south. I don’t know for what. 
But he has written once or twice to Christine.” 

'' Poor Christine ! ” Katey thought, she, too, has 
her troubles,” 

But, 0, Katey ! ” Mina exclaimed, I had almost 
forgotten what I wanted particularly to tell you.” She 
went to the door and listened ; then she came back, and 
drew a worn, crumpled envelope from her pocket. 
Do you know, I feel as though he had deceived us all 
the time as to his name.” 

“ Why ? ” 

Because I picked this up from the floor one day ; 
it had fallen from his pocket, and it does not bear his 
name at all.” 

Perhaps the letter was not addressed to him.” 

But why should he have it, then ? I don’t know ; ” 
and she shook her head slowly. The handwriting is 
like yours,” she said, suddenly rousing herself. “ See ! ” 
and, leaning forward, she put the envelope into Katey’s 
hand. 

Like mine, is it ? ” Katey said, with a little laugh, 
moving towards the window, so that the faint, last 
rays of daylight might fall upon it. 

15 


226 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


But the laugh died in her tliroat. Like liers ? It 
was the cover of her own letter ! And the name she 
read, while everything whirled around her, was — 
Dacre Home ! 

“Can’t you make it out?” Mina called, from her 
corner by the fire. “ I ought to have rung for lights ; 
but we were going so soon.” 

“ It can’t be. There is some mistake,” gasped 
Katey, finding her voice at last. 

Mina came forward slowly. “ I don’t know ; it is 
very strange. But how hoarse you are ! I did not 
notice it before. And your hands are like ice. You 
ought not to have come. Sit down here, and warm 
yourself.” 

But Katey began in a flurried, absent way to fasten 
her cloak. “ No, no, I must go back.” She must go 
while she could. Presently, when she realized it all, 
she should drop down where she stood. All at once 
she paused. “ Tell me about him. You have never 
described him to me.” Perhaps she was mistaken 
after all. ' 

“ Christine has his picture. I wish you might see 
it. Who knows? You may meet him somewhere, 
and learn something about him. He is tall — taller 
than Wulf, and has a little stoop about the shoulders. 
His hair is dark like yours, and his face is smooth. 
Then his eyes — ” 

“ Yes,” Katey said, faintly, “ I know ; now I will 2:0 
home.” 

“ But not before father and Christine come back ? ” 

Christine? Katey had forgotten her. Yes, she 
must get away. How could she meet her ? Some- 
thing like pity struggled up from the chaos in her 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


227 


mind ; or was it an instinct of caution made her say 
at the very last momentj when she left Mina down at 
the street door, Don’t tell Christine about the letter ; 
or not now, at least. Let us think about it first. It 
may all come right yet ; ” though she knew already 
that it could never come right for her. And Mina 
promised, and suffered her to go, sure that she was 
ill, but not at all suspicious as to the truth. 

The wind whirled through the tortuous streets, and 
held lier back as she went on. The lowering clouds 
threw stinging sliowers of sleet down with the dark- 
ness ; but she did not heed it. Slie was numb to 
sound, and siglit, and feeling. It miglit have been a 
summer night for all slie knew. She liad but one de- 
sire, one purpose : to get back, to hide from every 
prying, curious eye, and then — ah, no matter what 
came then. She let herself in at the door. There 
were voices in the school parlor ; a laugh came from 
across the hall. She hurried on. The lights burned 
dim in the deserted library ; in the music-room a 
group of girls hung about one of the pianos. 0, 
please, come and play for us to dance,” they said. To 
dance ! She murmured something, and hastened on. 
The snow had fallen through the day, and drifted in 
upon the veranda. How cool and refreshing it was to 
her feet ! For now she burned as with an inward fire. 
Some one had called after her that the door was 
closed, she must go the other way ; but she had not 
listened. The long window was unfastened. She 
would not go back; but, standing in the snow, made 
it slide up at her touch. Tlie long window opening 
upon tlie veranda was left unfastened last night ; did 
you know it ? ” Dacre wrote once. She remembered 


228 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


it now as she turned the spring. The school- room 
was dark and silent. She felt her way swiftly down 
its length to the stairway at the end, which led up 
and up again to her door. 

She took off her outside garments, and hung them 
in their place. Slie was strangely tired, and there 
was a weight upon her brain. Why did she not 
feel any longer this which had so shocked and dis- 
tressed her ? She would think of it another time — 
in the morning ; and so she crept to bed. 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


229 


CHAPTER XXI. 


“l AM NOT WELL IN HEALTH, AND THAT IS ALL.^^ 
AS it morning ? The light in the room seemed 



» ^ dim as Katey opened her eyes. But winter 
mornings have late twilights. It must be time to rise. 
The call to prayers would come soon, and there were 
the letters ! 

Some one moved out from behind the head of the 
bed, and bent over her. It was Clary Luckiwinner, 
mopping her tear-stained face with a lace-edged hand- 
kerchief. 

Why, Clary ! 

^'0, then you know me at last, dear Miss Earle! 
You have been dreadfully ill, and your sister is here, 
and — but 0, I must not talk to you,’^ she broke off, 
penitent and frightened. 

Katey closed her eyes. She was so weak that 
this little scene exhausted and confused her. So Del- 
phine was here I And she had been ill ! Slowly her 
awakened thoughts travelled back to the point where 
forgetfulness began. Then she hid her face among 
the pillows. 

Delphine came presently, and fed her with broth, 
and bade her go to sleep, like a good child. She could 
hear the girls whispering outside the door, where Clary 
had gone ; but even this died away upon her ear, and 


230 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


she lost herself again. How long a time passed she 
did not know. She slept and woke, and slept and woke 
again. Sometimes it was daylight upon which she 
opened her eyes, and sometimes a soft glimmer, as from 
a shaded lamp, filled the room ; and all the while she was 
slowly coming back to herself. How far she must have 
wandered in the darkness ! Her mind was growing 
clearer. The past rose up before her, as it might, 
perhaps, in the day of judgment, when every secret 
thought, as well as deed, would stand revealed. It had 
been all a lie from the beginning, she knew. He had 
come to her with a vow to another woman upon him. 
He had allowed himself to fall into temptation. He 
had been too weak to go away when safety lay only 
in flight. She herself had led him on. Unwittingly, 
she had been a snare to him, knowing nothing of the 
truth. She could see now how he liad struggled, 
weakly. “ I am your bitterest enemy,'' he said. Her 
bitterest enemy ! And yet she did not hate him. At 
this very moment, when she knew how false he had 
been, she felt that if he but stood in the door and 
beckoned, she should rise and follow him. 0, he must 
not come ; she must never see him again. He could be 
nothing to her; she must forget him. That would 
have been easy to do once ; but now — could she ever 
untangle these threads which had knit together the 
two lives ? 

Delphine, in her rich, dark dress, with pretty shining 
ornaments about her neck and at her ears, sat by the 
little table holding a lamp, knitting a hood of soft, 
white wool. She rose hastily when Katey moved 
among her pillows. 

'' How good it was in you to come ! " said Katey 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


23 1 

stroking her hand, when she had submitted to being 
fed, like a baby, with a spoon. Poor Katey ! Some- 
thing had dropped out of her life, leaving it empty and 
bare. It seemed all at once as though the world were 
cruelly cold. The least kindness was a surprise. 

Of course I should come ! What do you mean, 
child ? I am thankful your illness occurred when it 
did, and not a month later, after we had gone. You 
don’t know how sick you have been, Katey.” 

Delphine’s voice quavered. She bent over her 
work. 

“ Did J ack know ? ” 

I wrote a despatch for him one day, but Eobert 
said we had best not send it, unless — ” She did not 
finish the sentence. 

So they had thought she might die ! It would have 
been better, perhaps. It would have been easier. 
Death settles many a vexed question. And yet there 
was something she desired to do first. 

Has it been long ? Have I been ill a long time ? ” 

Nearly a fortnight.” 

Have — have I had any letters, do you know ? ” 
Her voice trembled, in spite of the effort to speak 
calmly. 

^^Yes; Jack and Josie have both written. You 
shall hear their letters to-morrow.” 

“ And that is all, — you are sure ? There might be 
some mistake.” 

‘‘ Yes, 0, yes, that is all.” 

From whom did the child expect letters ? thought 
Delphine, carelessly. It was a sick girl’s fancy, and 
she spoke of something else. But Katey did not 
reply. With her face hidden in the pillow, she was 


232 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


trying to stifle the great pang of disappointment which 
Delphine's words had brought. And yet, why should 
she be disappointed ? Only a moment before, she had 
been alarmed lest he had written to her with tender 
words ; and then where would her strength be ? She 
must write to him at once ; she could not rest or sleep 
again till this was done. If she could only throw her 
arms around Delphine’s neck, and tell lier the whole 
story ! But Delphine had been bitter in lier denunci- 
ations of Dacre. It would be far easier to make Jack 
her confidant. Still, what might not Jack do in his 
wrath ? 

I am going out for a little while,” Mrs. Estemere 
said, presently, laying down her work. I have an 
errand to do, and Miss Severance has kindly offered to 
go with me. Little Miss Luckiwinner will sit by you 
until I return. I shall caution her about talking too 
much.” 

So, after a few moments. Clary crept in to take her 
proud position beside the bed. 

Mrs. Estemere’s step had hardly died away before 
Katey turned to her. Raise my head a little. Clary, 
and bring my writing-desk to me.” 

Clary stared in affright. Had Miss Earle lost her 
'senses again ? 

I want to write a letter,” Katey explained. 

But you are not well enough. Mrs. Estemere said 
I was not to talk to you.” 

'' I don’t ask you to talk to me. Only bring me the 
desk. Please, Clary.” 

0, I don’t dare to,” Clary replied, trembling with 
fright at her temerity, yet determined to be faithful to 
her trust. “You might be ill again and die,” she 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


233 


gasped. 0, I cannot, dear Miss Earle ; don’t ask me 
to. Wait until Mrs. Estemere comes back.” 

But Katey preferred that Delpliine should know 
nothing of the letter. She had made her plan, count- 
mg upon Clary’s weakness; but it had turned to 
strength. In vain she pleaded. Clary soon dissolved 
to tears, but, even in a liquid state, was firm. She re- 
sorted to reproaches, which poor Clary bore with no 
other reply than little sniffling sobs. 

Then I shall get it for myself,” she said at last, 
with determination, making a movement as though 
about to rise from her pillows. 

Clary wrung her hands in despair. 

''Wait one moment. Will you not wait just one 
moment ? ” and she ran out of the room. Now was 
the time to execute her threat. But that was impossi- 
ble, Katey knew. She was by far too weak. She had 
spent her little strength in the encounter with Clary. 
She could only lie quite still, crying weakly. 

All at once Clary’s little prim face, warmed into un- 
usual life, appeared at the door. 

" Then you didn’t get up ? ” she exclaimed, and the 
head disappeared again. • Once more it showed itself. 
What was the girl trying to do ? "I went down to — 
to speak to somebody ; and won’t you please let him 
talk to you about it ? ” she said, confusedly. A taller 
form appeared behind Clary’s little figure. 

" May I come in ? ” and putting Clary aside. Pro- 
fessor Dyce entered the room. 

" Miss Luckiwinner seems to think it an occasion 
demanding authority. What is this about writing 
letters ? ” 

He came forward and took the hand lying upon the 
coverlet, holding the wrist a moment. 


234 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Ah, this will not do,” he said, gravely. I thought 
we could trust to your good sense. You will bring 
back your fever in this way.” 

But I wanted to write, — just a little note,” she 
added, quickly. I would be very quiet afterwards ; 
I would never ask to do anything again. Only this 
once,” she begged. 

He was regarding her flushed face with grave, stern 
eyes ; but at the quaver in her voice their expression 
changed. 

Could not Miss Clary, here, write for you? or I ?” 
he asked, gently. So she had been crying ; her eyes 
were still full of tears. 

Katey shook her head. 

“ Bring me the desk,” he said to Clary. She hesi- 
tated, but she gave it into his hands. 

May I open it ? ” He took out paper, and placed 
it before her; he selected a pencil, and began to 
point it deliberately. “Do the young ladies disturb 
you?” 

“ Not at all. They have been very quiet, I am sure. 
But my classes ? ” 

“Wait in hope. In the meantime most of them 
have fallen into my hands. There,” laying down the 
pencil, “ this is to be a very brief epistle — only a line 
or two ? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Then Miss Luckiwinner and I will leave you for a 
few moments ; ” and he ushered Clary from the room, 
closing the door, beside which Clary waited, however. 
The professor paced up and down the hall, his head 
bent, his hands clasped behind him. Clary, hearing 
no movement within the room, ventured to leave the 


KATHERINE EARLE. 235 

door and lean upon the window-sill at the end of the 
hall. The professor paused before her. 

“ Well; Clary/ ^ and the strong, bright tone which he 
had used in the sick room had left his voice, it’s all 
a tangle — isn’t it ? ” 

What is, sir ? ” 

“ 0, life, and — everything.” 

“I — I don’t know,” Clary replied, bewildered. 

No, of course you don’t ; why should you ? ” he 
said, cheerfully. Then he rapped at Katey’s door. 

“Come in.” The flush had left her face; it was 
almost as white as the pillows about it. The letter 
was finished and enclosed, and lay, face down, upon 
the desk before her. “ I was not a long time, you 
see,” and she tried to smile. 

“ No.” 

“ And now, will you send this ? It is stamped and 
addressed, ready for the mail.” 

“ Certainly,” he replied, in so bright a tone that 
Clary was puzzled again. But every-day life held 
many mysteries to Clary. She never got in their un- 
ravelment beyond a dull, confused wonder, which 
shed no light upon them. 

He held out his hand for the letter, but Katey still 
kept it clasped tight in her own. Would he read the 
address ? There was an unspoken request in her 
eyes. “ It need not be laid upon the desk with the 
others ? ” and the color swept over her face. 

“ Will you not trust me ? ” and she gave the letter 
into his hand. 

“ But you will not do this again ? — not until you 
are stronger, at least ; you will promise me ? ” 

“ I shall nevQT do it again,” burst out Katey, with a 


236 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


little sob ; too weak and miserable to realize how much 
her words revealed. Then she turned her face to the 
wall, and he went away. But Clary added another to 
her list of unanswered queries : why did a great light 
come into his eyes at sight of Katey’s tears ? 

Delphine returned to find her patient quietly sleep- 
ing, and Clary ensconced in breathless, painful qaiet 
in the great chair by the bedside. Evidently her 
commands had been carried out to the letter. 

There was no opportunity at the time to recount 
the story of Katey’s wilfulness, and Clary, after turn- 
ing the matter over in her small head, decided to say 
nothing about it. She kept her own counsel, since no 
harm followed. Katey even seemed better the next 
day, and wondered in her own mind if she ought to 
confess her misdeed. But that would involve telling 
the whole story, from which she shrank now. She 
was morbidly faithful, perhaps. But, because he had 
proved false, was she set free from every promise ? 
They could never be anything to each other ; but slie 
would not turn against him, and recount everything 
she knew to his disadvantage. Then, too, Delphine 
would divine at once the cause of her illness, and 
overwhelm her with pity and sympathy. Ah, no ; it 
would be wiser and more easy to bury it all in her 
own heart. 

When she was able to be moved, Delphine carried 
her off to her own home. Jack and Josie had returned 
from their wedding journey, and were settled in the 
same town. Then, before many days, Delphine had 
bade them all a cheery adieu, — there was never any 
forebodings in her mind, — and sailed away with her 
husband and child for a year’s absence. But Katey 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


237 


was by this time domiciled with Josie, where she was 
to remain for the present, and Avhere rest and new 
scenes would bring strength and peace, if not forget- 
fulness. And so the winter passed away, and spring 
came again. 

What is this longing Avliich came to Katey, and 
which possesses us all in the spring time ; — not for 
the distant future, but for the far aAvay in the past. 
A vague regret, a shadowy remembrance tinctured 
with pain of loss. It comes to us like a fuller heart- 
beat in the midst of busy cares. It liolds us for an in- 
stant, then is gone. Not a recollection, for Ave grasp 
at nothing ; no picture rises before our minds. It is 
too brief, too mystical, for that. The rain drops upon 
the Avhite stones under the AvindoAv, and there falls 
upon heart and soul a sense of — Avhat? Another 
patter of rain ? When ? and Avhere ? A sudden gust, 
and the breath of the salt sea is borne in upon us. 
Ah ! we had almost grasped it ; Ave had almost lived 
again. What? We knoAv not. It is gone; only the 
pain still vibrates. Some tense, forgotten string 
Avithin had been touched in passing. 

SloAvly the summer Avent by. The thread Avas 
broken at last. The thoughts which had sprung back 
continually to Dacre had learned to dAvell upon other 
objects. He had never Avritten. He had made no 
effort to overbear her decision or to excuse himself. 
From Mina Hauser she heard sometimes. Only once 
had she spoken of him ; and tlien to say that Christine, 
hearing nothing, was anxious and alarmed. Long be- 
fore this, Katey liad told Jack and Josie of her appear- 
ance upon the stage at the Junction, and of the Hauser 
family. Christine’s love-story only she had withheld; 


238 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


partly because it had been imparted to her in that 
most binding of all confidences, which asks no promise 
— and partly because it was so interwoven witli her 
own brief romance. Her romance ! There would, 
doubtless, come no other to her life. She looked for- 
ward without interest. The future, to be sure, was 
not now as it had been at first — a great open sea, 
cold and gray, and crossed by no white-winged ships ; 
the roads of her fancy led no longer to a high, blank 
wall. There were Jack and Josie, Delphine and her 
family, — they bounded her world ; and there was her 
work ; for work she must, or life would be unbearable. 
The summer was almost over, and she was going back 
to La Fayette. Professor Dyce had written a brief 
note to say that there had been many changes in the 
school, but her place awaited her if she chose to re- 
turn. And she was going back. The dull routine 
Avas tedious, but it Avas Avork, and ready to her hand. 
It Avould engross her mind ; and she Avould do it con- 
scientiously for Avant of a better, nobler mission. She 
had no ambition ; she felt no call, such as comes to 
some Avomen, to do great deeds. But the commonest 
duties, Avell done, confer nobility upon the doer, and it 
Avas Avork ; she came back to that always. She should 
go on year after year, growing old, and Avorn, and 
Avhite-haired, perhaps, at last, in that little corner room 
looking doAvn upon the Gothic porch of a church. 
People Avould pass in and out there, — old and young, 
bridal parties and funeral corteges ; but it would hold 
one picture forever in her mind : the stillness of a 
summer night, the loAvering clouds shutting out the 
stars, a handsome dark face bent close to hers, a 
shadowy figure moving sioAvly over the way. Ah ! 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


239 


she thought she had forgotten. She rose up quickly 
from sitting listlessly in her own room, and began hur- 
riedly to dress. They were going to visit a collection 
of pictures, and even now Josie ran up the stairs and 
tapped at her door. 

'' What ! not dressed ! and I am late, too. 0, Katey, 
you are an idle girl,’’ she added, playfully; ^^you have 
done nothing all the morning, while I — do you know 
Jack thinks I am a wonderful housekeeper ? ” 

“ I don’t doubt it.” Katey was tying her bonnet 
strings under her chin, and searching for her gloves. 

I agree with him heartily.” 

How sweet you are in all that pink ! ” said Josie, 
when they were entering the picture gallery. But 
you are so tall and grand that I am quite insignificant 
beside you ; ” and she made an abortive attempt to 
draw her diminutive figure to a fuller height. You 
always will look like a princess in disguise. I be- 
lieve if you were to walk down the street in a print 
gown, and with a handkerchief tied over your head, 
half the town would turn and stare after you.” 

'' It would be strange if they did not,” laughed 
Katey. 

Do laugh ; ” and Josie turned her eyes upon her 
witli tlie wistful gaze Katey had marked many times 
before, but would not appear to notice ; you are 
very quiet and grave of late.” 

Am I ? I have been ill, you know, and that can 
never be amusing ; and I have had many tilings to 
think of, some of whicli have troubled me not a little.” 
She said it quietly, moved to no purpose when she 
began. Dacre’s name had never been mentioned be- 
tween them in all these months which they had spent 


240 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


together. But now she would speak. They were 
almost alone. An old man with a mottled beard and 
a hooked nose — a dealer, perhaps — was moving 
from one picture to another, eying them with a cold, 
critical air. A younger man, shabbily dressed, — 
possibly an artist, ■ — stood near by, sighting a land- 
scape through his half- closed hand. They were early ; 
there were no others in the room. 

I shall never see Dacre Home again.” Katey’s 
great grave eyes were fixed upon the canvas before 
them, with the far-seeing gaze of a sibyl. It was a 
little French study — an arbor, a stand, a wine-glass, a 
white shoulder, some black drapery, a screen of vines, 
a pair of dark eyes peeping through; but she saw 
nothing of it. 

Josie caught her sleeve. “ Do you really mean 
it? 0, I am so glad! You cannot think how anx- 
ious I have been ; and yet I would not try to force 
your confidence. And you are convinced at last that 
he is utterly worthless ? ” 

No,” Katey said, stoutly. There is mucli that 
is good in him.” 

0, Katey ! How can you think so ? I dare not 
trust you then. I am afraid you will go back to him.” 

“ Because I will not turn against him ? You need 
not be afraid,” she added ; “ I can never go back to 
him.” 

But you are not going to pine away ? ” 

One never knew what Katey might take upon her- 
self to do. 

“Do I look like it?” and she turned upon Josie 
the face that had lost something of its bloom and 
freshness, but was still round in its outline, and 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


241 


sweeter than ever in its grave, thoughtful expres- 
sion. 

''No,'' responded Josie, doubtfully. “And you 
are sure you are not making yourself unhappy over 
it ? " 

" Quite sure," Katey replied. Then the room began 
to fill rapidly, an acquaintance accosted them, and 
they said no more. 

16 


242 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XXII. 


THE PICNIC. 


HE changes to which Professor Dyce referred in 



his note to Katey were greater than she ima- 
gined. President Humphrey had been called to an in- 
stitution in the far West, leaving Professor Dyce in 
charge at La Fayette until the trustees should decide 
upon some one to take his place. Miss Severance had 
been summoned to her home, and finally resigned her 
position in the school on account of domestic troubles ; 
and at least half of the pupils had left, many from the 
South, with the forethought — or foreknowledge — of 
prophecy, having never returned after the Christmas 
holidays. Others failed to appear at the beginning of 
the spring term, Avhen the fall of Sumter warned the 
nation of the dreadful future. A summer of excite- 
ment and confusion, never to be forgotten, followed, 
and it was only a handful, compared with the former 
number of girls, who gathered at the opening of the 
fall term. There were murmurs of dissatisfaction 
among these in regard to the political principles of 
the head of the school ; for Professor Dyce was openly 
and avowedly for the government. Katey soon saw 
that this dissatisfaction was fostered and encouraged 
by Miss Wormley, who for some unknown cause had 
evidently conceived a dislike for the man whom she 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


243 


had formerly fawned upon and flattered. A line, im- 
aginary, and yet not the less strongly marked, was 
forming a division among the teachers. Upon one side 
were Professor Dyce, Miss Hersey, and Katey ; upon 
tlie other. Professor Payne, Professor Grote, and Miss 
Wormley, while the instructor in modern languages 
was not regarded by either party, and little Mr. Milde 
kept his own counsel and smiled equally upon both. 

For the evening study-hour the girls gathered now 
in tlie music-room. It was less dreary than the great, 
half-empty school-hall. Many and bitter were the dis- 
cussions waged here in the half hour of twilight recre- 
ation after tea. Be-jewelled, be-furbelowed though 
tlie girls were, they had found a deptli at last beneath 
these things. The whole air of the house was changed ; 
it liad no longer the appearance of a quiet, well-regu- 
lated school ; but of some chance abiding-place, where 
people, jealous, distrustful of each other, waited during 
a little time with feverish impatience for wliat, no one 
knew. Among these warring elements Professor Dyce 
moved silently, outwardly calm, self-possessed, and 
assured. It was a relief to Katey to feel that his eyes 
were no longer upon her ; that the foolish suspicions 
whicli she had awakened at first had died out, or been 
forgotten in other and more important affairs. She 
took up her diminished classes with fresh zeal. The 
stirring events of each day in the outside world, with 
tlie duties close by her hands, banished all morbid re- 
grets, and brought her mind to a healthier tone. She 
wondered still about Dacre, but without pain. Tlie 
little formula of prayer to which her lips had become 
accustomed so long ago, she still kept up. It could 
do her no harm, nor him. And something like faith 


244 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


enlarged her vision at times, and made her feel that it 
would not be in vain. Still she heard nothing of him. 
Even Mina Hauser, for some reason, had ceased to 
Avrite. 

There was less of discipline now in the school than 
there had been once. With the exception of Professor 
Dyce, who held them all with a strong, firm hand, the 
teachers relaxed something of their former vigilance. 
The recitations were naturally shortened since the 
classes were so small, and the hours of recreation in- 
creased. In place of the processional walk about 
toAvn, Avhich had once comprised the daily exercise. 
Professor Dyce led the girls often, in these pleasant 
September days, quite beyond the limits of the city. 

One day, a month, perhaps, after the beginning of the 
term, he announced at morning prayers that the school 
would spend the afternoon in the country. He would 
leave Miss Wormley, through whose knoAvledge of the 
suburbs he had perfected the plan, to give its details ; 
and Avith this he left the desk and the school-room, 
folloAved by some such daring expressions of delight as 
a soft clapping of hands from the younger girls. Miss 
Wormley explained that immediately after dinner om- 
nibuses would be in attendance at the door, to convey 
the young ladies to a point some four or five miles 
from town, Avithin easy Avalking distance of the Avoods, 
where they would take an early tea, and return to tlie 
city before dark. 

Professor Payne excused himself from the party, and 
Miss Hersey decided that it Avould be necessary for 
her also to remain at home. Miss Wormley, busily 
collecting the lunch baskets A\diich the housekeeper 
had prepared, smiled a peculiar and not altogether 


KA THERINE EARLE. 


245 

pleasant smile when this announcement was made to 
her. 

The care of the young ladies will devolve upon 
you and me, then/’ she said to Katey, in an unusually 
gracious tone. 

Yes ; and upon Professor Dyce. He is going, of 
course ? ” 

“ Professor Dyce ? 0, of course.” And again the 

watery blue eyes half closed in an odd smile. 

They set off at last, a gay party, filling a couple 
of omnibuses, merry, happy, and forgetful for the time 
of their differences. The road was smooth and hard, 
when the paved streets of the town were once left 
behind ; the country fresh and greener than in mid- 
summer ; the air mild, yet not too warm ; the day 
perfect. What more could they desire ? 

Upon the outskirts of a suburban village they de- 
scended from the omnibuses, and went on, a straggling 
company, led by Miss Wormley, up the pleasant country 
road to the picnic ground, a half mile away. 

Is it much farther ? ” Katey ventured to ask at last. 
The afternoon sun was fiercely hot ; no shadow from 
welcome wayside trees fell upon the dusty road. The 
shawl and basket upon her arm were growing heavier 
each moment. 

No ; we turn in at that gate. There is the grove,” 
Miss Wormley replied. 

A bend in the road had long since hidden their 
starting-point. They had left every trace of human 
habitation behind. Rough, hillocky fields, broken into 
knolls, and even mountains in the distance, met their 
eyes on every hand. Across these, in irregular de- 
vious wanderings, straggled a narrow belt of woods, 


246 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


disappearing only where the horizon sliut down upon 
it at last. 

The professor stepped forward and opened the gate 
as Miss Wormley paused before it. He waited until 
the last had passed through. Katey had lagged be- 
hind. He took the basket from her hand, and walked 
on beside her without speaking. The grass was cool 
and soft to the feet ; a faint breeze rose and came to 
meet them as they reached the edge of the Avoods, 
stirring the branches of the trees ; a startled bird flut- 
tered away, uttering a shrill, piping call to its mate. 
It Avas a pleasant summer scene, suggestive of peace. 

'‘One might almost forget the Avar,’' Katey said, 
letting her eyes wander after her thoughts to the 
distant, hazy hills. 

" Is it, then, so easily forgotten ? 0, not for me,” the 
professor replied, in a deep, suppressed voice, a fire 
burning in his eyes. 

“The drum, the drum, it calls so loud,” 

he said, half to himself. . 

And Avould lie go? Jack had AAudtten the Aveek 
before that he expected his commission daily. 0, Iioav 
near this Avas coming to each one ! IIoav real this 
terrible dream might yet be ! She, too, liad enlisted 
heart and soul. That Avas all a Avoman could do. Her 
busy hands, to do tlieir possible, meek office, folloAA'^ed, 
as a matter of course, needing no fresh consecration. 
But often her desires soared beyond this. " Bear 
Jack,” she had written, feeling only tliis uplifting of 
the soul beyond all dreadful forebodings. Then she 
laid her face upon the paper j no other Avords came 
with the rush of strong emotion. When she was 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


247 


calmer she took up the pen again. “ It must be sweet 
to die for one^s country/’ she added, with that holy 
enthusiasm which only women and martyrs know. 

They walked on silently for a moment ; then Katey 
spoke again softly. 

But the school ! How could you leave the 
school ? ” 

It has never been any but a temporary affair with 
me,” he replied. I should give it up at once if there 
were only some one to take my place. I have to wait 
a little longer for my degree, — that is all. Nothing 
else need keep me here. But, indeed, six months hence 
there will be no school. You think me a prophet of 
evil ? ” For Katey turned her face upon him full of 
surprise and doubt. 

“ The result is inevitable, and not far in the future, 
either. Ah ! carefully ; ” as one of the little girls, 
running back to meet them, stumbled, and would have 
fallen, had he not caught her. 

Please, Miss Wormley wants to know if we .are to 
make a fire ? ” 

“ Certainly ; ” and he hastened on with the child to 
where the others had gathered under the trees, close 
by a noisy little brook clattering down over the 
stones. The girls were tired and heated, and some- 
what inclined to be cross after the dusty walk, upon 
which they had not calculated ; but his presence soon 
put them in good humor. Notwithstanding the grave 
air he always wore, and the authority which ho could 
exercise upon occasions, a certain gentle deference, a 
courtly manner, which years of society, perhaps, had 
imparted to him, and which was never forgotten in his 
intercourse with the smallest and most insignificant of 


248 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


the sex, flattered and won upon the girls imperceptibly. 
They might rail at him in secret for his political prin- 
ciples, but each one was ready to do his bidding, and 
proud if a word of commendation fell from his lips. 
There was a flutter of ribbons about him now, when 
Miss Wormley announced that it was time to think 
about tea, each one hoping to be drawn into his ser- 
vice. The younger children ran to gather wood to 
feed the fire he had lit in a dry hollow, the older ones 
prepared to spread the cloth and set out the contents 
of the baskets, while Katey and Clary Luckiwinner 
set about making the coffee under his direction. 

They chattered and laughed over their rural repast 
as only school-girls can and will. They told stories, 
and even sang songs, at its conclusion, grouped about 
in picturesque attitudes, not entirely unstudied, upon 
the moss-grown rocks and stumps of fallen trees. 
Then, when the cloth had been cleared, and while the 
baskets were repacked and gathered together again, 
they wandered away as they chose. Not too far,’’ 
cautioned the professor, we must be moving towards 
town in an hour ; it would not be wise to let the twi- 
light find us scattered among these woods and hills.” 

Miss Wormley and Katey had been collecting the 
baskets ; even Clary had been tempted away by the 
others. Closing the last one with an exclamation of 
satisfaction. Miss Wormley strolled off after the girls. 
Katey was tired; she had served them all without 
sparing her strength. She had dismissed the last who 
volunteered to assist in clearing away the remains of 
the tea, and sent her off towards the fields where her 
eyes had followed the others wistfully, assuming the 
task herself. She sat down now to rest. The pro- 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


249 


lessor, at a little distance, had thrown himself upon 
the ground, his back against the trunk of a tree, and 
lit a cigar, too busy with the reverie called up by the 
silence, or the smoke slowly curling about his head, to 
notice her. She had no fear now of what he might say, 
even though his glance should discover her. In what 
a childish terror she had avoided him all the past year ! 
And how all these imaginary fears had fled in the 
presence of the real ! Then her thoughts flew, as they 
did so often now, to Jack. Ah! what should we do 
but for the blessed care for others which takes us out 
of our own narrow selves ? Dear Jack ! He was, 
perhaps, already on his way to Washington, where 
Josie would follow him. Jack in the blue, with a 
sword at his side I Jack’s handsome eyes looking out 
from under a visor I But Jack was always a hero to 
her, and he would live to come home again. There is 
a conviction stronger than hope, different even from 
faith, a kind of foreknowledge, and this Katey pos- 
sessed now. She might have her terrors when athers 
quaked. She might see her dark days when the 
clouds hung low, — but he would come home. 

She said it to herself with a smile on her lips, though 
something wet fell upon the hands lying in her lap. 
Then she looked up hastily, and met Professor Dj^ce’s 
eyes. He must have been regarding her for a long 
time ; certainly there was no surprise in his face at 
seeing her there. 

“ You are cpiite well ? ” he said, inquiringly. There 
was something like anxiet}^ in his tone. 

“ 0, yes.” 

And happy ? ” It was an odd question, uttered so 
quietly, without the suggestion of a smile. 


250 


KA THERINE EARLE. 


“ 0, yes,” Katey said again. 

That was all. He rose, throwing away his cigar. 
Did he take care of her ? Did he watch over her? A 
little quick throb stirred her heart. There had been 
a moment of desolation, thinking of Jack, and of Del- 
phine so far away. What if anything should happen 
here at the school ? There was no one to whom she 
could turn. She had not thought of Professor Dyce. 

The faintest shadoAv of coming night had already 
fallen. Miss Wormley approached now in evident 
haste. Professor Dyce watched her drawing near. 

We rest upon a volcano in La Fayette,” he went 
on to Katey. It is only a question of time. The 
end must come. For myself, I have succeeded in the 
undertaking which brought me here. I have trans- 
ferred my interests elsewhere. Six weeks — a month 
— I could leave to-day without loss, though I should 
like my degree ; but you — it is different with a 
woman. If your position becomes dangerous, — if I, 
who can see so much better than you to what all this 
may lead, having means of knowing what you can but 
be ignorant of, — if I tell you some day that the time 
has come for you to leave, will you trust me, and go ? ” 

Katey gave one look into his eyes. 

Yes,” she said, unhesitatingly, I will.” 

Then, even as she uttered the last words, Miss 
Wormley joined them. 

“ It is time we started for home ; ” and the pro- 
fessor consulted his watch. 

“ There is no haste ; it is early yet,” said Miss 
Wormley. It struck Katey as odd. The night was 
close at hand. Or was it her manner which was 
strange ? There was a kind of suppressed excitement 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


251 


about the woman. She panted as though she had 
been running. The professor, standing upon a rock 
above them, searched the woods on either side. The 
girls were nowhere in sight. 

'' I have called them,"’ Miss Wormley said, quickly. 

They will be here directly. Of course you have seen 
the view from the Knoll?’’ she added to Katey, mo- 
tioning with her head in the opposite direction from 
that by which they had entered the woods. 

No,’’ Katey replied ; I was tired, and have been 
resting 5 and, indeed, I know nothing about it.” 

'' Is it possible ? Why, that is the aim and object 
of every picnic party here. It would be a shame not 
to see it. Professor Dyce ! ” He turned at her voice. 

I will wait here for the girls, who are on their way 
back now from the Knoll, if you will take Miss Earle 
there for a moment. It is a pity that she should miss 
the view, which she says she has not seen.” 

Nor have I,” replied the professor. I must con- 
fess my ignorance as to the situation of this Knoll, even. 
I trust it is not far,” he added, with unconscious ungal- 
lantry. It is later than I thought.” 

0, no ; I can easily direct you there ; ” and she 
proceeded to point out the way, which seemed to 
Katey both complicated and long in its various 
turnings. 

“ It must be too far for us to think of going now,” 
she said. 

Not at all. You will soon see,” Miss Wormley 
replied. And you will be well paid for the slight 
exertion. But don’t linger there,” she called after 
them, or we shall go home without you.” 


252 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

katey's confession. 

K ATEY followed the professor, who led the way 
with some haste, and without replying to this 
playful remark. As they came out into the open fields 
the daylight flared into unexpected brightness. It 
was the shadows among the trees, perhaps, which had 
brought the twilight so soon. 

Where are the girls ? and Katey looked about 
her in surprise, for no one was in sight. 

They have probably crossed to the other side,’’ 
the professor replied. Miss Wormley has called 
them together. If you are anxious, we will turn back. 
Still, I think this must be the Knoll she spoke of. Are 
you equal to a run to the top of it? Give me your 
hand.” 

“ This cannot be the spot,” he said, when they had 
gained the summit only to find another hill, rising at a 
little distance to a greater height, shutting out the 
view from before them. Katey was already half way 
down upon the other side. She was filled with mis- 
givings. Let us go as fast as we can,” she said. 
But the way lengthened before them ; the deceitful 
knoll — if this were really the one they sought — 
seemed to move back coquettishly at their approach. 
Already the horizon had disappeared, and heavy shad- 
ows were creeping towards them. 







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KATHERINE EARLE. 


253 


Professor Dyce, where are we going ? Katey 
exclaimed, at last. 

I don’t know.” 

Nor I.” 

Then they laughed. 

“We had better return as quickly as possible,” said 
the professor, beginning to retrace his steps. “ It 
Avill be dark before we reach La Fayette. I am sorry 
to disappoint you — ’’ 

“ It is no disappointment,” Katey hastened to say. 
“ I did not care to come, but Miss Wormley insisted 
upon it.” 

Tfie way seemed much longer than when they first 
passed over it, and the shadows gained upon them 
with alarming speed. 

“ Are you quite sure ? ” Katey ventured, presently. 
“ I think we should bend more to the left. I don't 
remember this clump of firs ; do you ? ” 

“ We might not have noticed it. But I believe we 
should enter the woods at that turn.” 

Katey’s heart fell in sudden fright ; but she followed 
without speaking. She was by no means sure : per- 
haps he was right. They gained the woods. The day 
bade them adieu as they plunged into the shadows, 
and pushed on in silence. They reached the brook, 
which sang noisil}^ on its way. The surroundings 
were strange. Their companions were nowhere in 
sight. 

“ Hark ! ” But it was only the cry of a distant 
hawk. 

“ We are too far down,” said the professor, in the 
kind, hopeful tone people use with children to allay 
their fears. It alarmed Katey. “ If we follow the 


254 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


brook, we shall soon reach them.’’ And again he led 
the way. It was an ill-trained, wilful little stream, 
that had heeded the beckoning of its own fancy ; it led 
them a devious way. Often they jumped its narrow 
width, when their progress was stopped by a fallen 
tree, or a great boulder which the spring freshets had 
brought down. The darkness was falling fast now. 
At a little distance it was difficult to distinguish the 
trees, or guard against the snares and pitfalls in Avhich 
Katcy’s tired feet Avere continually caught. They 
spoke no word. They only went on and on, until, all 
at once, Katey, faint, and dizzy, and beAvildered, Avould 
have fallen, had not tlie professor’s strong hand held 
her up. He seated her upon the trunk of a pros- 
trate tree. 

It is useless to go farther,” he said, quietly. He 
stepped upon the log beside her, and, raising his fingers 
to liis lips, gave a sharp, shrill Avhistle. He Avaited a 
moment. Katey held her breath to listen ; but there 
Avas no response. Again and again he repeated it. 
He changed it to a shout. A flock of croAvs rose over- 
head, with a great flapping of Avings, and hoarse, oft- 
repeated caAvs, dying aAvay at last in the distance. 
His voice had aAvakened no other sound. He sat 
doAvn beside her. 

We need not hasten noAv,” for Katey had made a 
movement to rise. We should be quite as likely to 
take the wrong direction as the right. We either 
entered the woods above the point Avhere we lunched, 
and so liave been going farther aAvay from it all the 
time, or have passed the place and not recognized it.” 

‘‘ But Miss Wormley and the girls? They must be 
searching for us now.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


255 


'' Give yourself no anxiety about them/’ said the 
professor. They were safely housed an hour ago, I 
doubt not. Finding we did not return, Miss Wormley 
would take the girls home, and perhaps send some 
one after us. We will hope so, at least, and act ac- 
cordingly. At the worst, we have only to wait for 
daylight, when we may find ourselves close by the 
turnpike. But I think we might make one other at- 
tempt. We will try the open fields. If we can only 
find the road, even if followed in the wrong direction, 
it must lead to some village or town, from which we 
can easily reach La Fayette.” 

They gained the open ground. Above them shone 
the stars, too bright by far ; a soft, trembling darkness 
filled all the space below, in which they moved as in a 
fog-swept sea. 

‘‘ This is folly and madness,” said the professor. 

We will go back, and build a fire. They Avill cer- 
tainly send some one to look for us.” And they 
retraced their steps to where the heavier shadows be- 
tokened the presence of tlie woods. He found a log 
where she could sit supported by the trunk of a tree. 

But you have no shawl, and the evening air is 
cool.” 

Thus reminded, she took up the shawl, which, with 
one of the lunch-baskets, she had carried, unconscious- 
ly, all the way, and wrapped it about her, while he 
gathered dry leaves and sticks, and lit a tiny fire, just 
beyond her feet. 

The wind is from the woods. We may safely 
make it burn as brightly as we can ; ” and he fed 
the flames, which, crackling and snapping, and rising 
higher and higher, surrounded them at last with a 


256 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


circle of light, making the outer darkness still more 
dense by contrast. 

I must make a wider search for fuel/’ he said, 
presently. “ You will not be afraid if I leave you for a 
while. We may have to remain here some hours, and 
a rousing fire would serve a double purpose.” 

Katey closed her eyes when he had gone. The 
delight of physical rest for the moment overpowered 
all other sensations. She did not sleep, but her 
thoughts became dreamy and confused. A sudden 
vision aroused her. Miss Wormley’s face, full of ma- 
lignant satisfaction, seemed to peer out of the dark- 
ness ; but it vanished as she opened her eyes. She 
was still alone. The flames, unfed, had died down. 
She was cold, and conscious now of hunger. How 
fortunate that they had brought away one of the 
baskets ! If it would only prove to contain something 
more desirable than spoons and forks ! But where 
was Professor Dyce ? She listened anxiously for his 
step. Could he have strayed beyond sight of the fire, 
since it had burned so low, and lost his way again? 
A great terror seized her — of the darkness, which 
seemed full of staring eyes — of the silence, which 
held mysterious whispers. She could not stay here. 
She threw an armful of brush upon the flames, and 
turned to the woods where he had disappeared, tread- 
ing noiselessly, as though her light step might awaken 
some new, fresh fear. Suddenly she perceived him, 
not many yards away, sleeping, as she thought at first, 
stretched out beneatli the trees, his elbow upon the 
ground, his hand supporting his head. His forehead 
was contracted, liis lieavy brows knit. No dreamer 
ever wore so anxious, so stern a countenance. Look- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


257 


ing closer, but fairly holding her breath, lest he should 
perceive her, she saw that his eyes, although open, 
were bent upon the ground ; and as she moved back, 
cautiously, he dropped his head upon his arm with a 
deep sigh. 

Was he, then, so troubled, while he had concealed 
his anxiety from her ? Sometimes care is infectious, 
and sometimes it is like the plank on which the chil- 
dren see-saw — the depression of one elevates the 
other. Katey’s spirits rose. They could not be really 
lost, she thought, hopefully, retracing her steps. At 
the worst, as he had said, they could wait here until 
daylight released them. He need not be uneasy if it 
was on her account. And yet she would not call him. 
But she made the dry twigs snap in her hands, as she 
fed the fire, noisily. She still knelt before the blaze, 
opening the lunch-basket, when he rejoined her. 

So you are awake. I came back once, and found 
you sleeping,’’ he said, with a smile. 

But no smile could deceive her now. 

^‘What is that? And you have carried it all the 
way ! ” 

T was not aware of it, I can assure you. How 
fortunate ! ” she exclaimed, bringing out one treasure 
after another. Not only sandwiches and rolls, and 
more sandwiches, but such superfluous products of 
civilization as knives and forks ! And what can this 
be ? ” She brought out a tin cup, which held a paper, 
half broken open. Coffee ! ” Her manner had en- 
tirely changed. He wondered, looking down upon her, 
as, clasping basket and viands and all in her arms, she 
said, with a playful air of distress : — 

Professor Dyce, I am shockingly hungry. It can’t 

17 


258 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


be long before they come,” she went on, in a bright 
tone, setting out the sandwiches upon the end of the 
log nearest the fire ; “ and, in the mean time, we will 
take supper. Will you bring some water from the 
brook, for the coffee ? ” 

He disappeared among tlie trees to return in a mo- 
ment with the cup filled. They placed it upon the 
glowing coals. 

You don’t care for cream, I suppose ? ” said Katey, 
when it had boiled furiously, and been set aside at last. 

0, no ; not at all.” 

‘‘ And much sugar is not good for one. It might be 
wise to dispense with it altogether.” 

True ; especially as we have none.” 

And coffee is never so delicious as when drank 
from the cup in which it is made,” and Katey prepared 
to test her theory. The heated rim approached her 
lips. And never so hot, I am sure,” she concluded, 
with tears in her eyes. 

The professor laughed. 

You should wait until it has had time to cool ; and 
it has not yet settled. I have camped out more than 
once. Coffee from a tin cup is no novelty to me.” 

And he recounted some boyish experience, with an 
animation which Katey felt to be forced. He watched 
and listened constantly, she knew. What did he 
dread ? What did he expect ? Why was he so ab- 
sent and preoccupied ? As for herself, she was con- 
tented and at rest now. They had food and fire, and 
presently some one would come. 

Are there any bears or wolves about here ? ” 

0, no ; ” and he smiled, as though amused by what 
she felt to be a childish question. Her face grew 
warm in the fire-light, but still she went on. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


259 


'' Is tliere anything one need fear ? '' ' 

rris head had been turned, as tliough listening. He 
looked around at her now. 

“ No. Are you afraid ? ’’ 

^^/am not afraid ; but^ — ’’ Then she stopped, red- 
dening to her hair. 

lie uttered a short, crisp laugh. 

You thought I might be, perhaps.^^ 

Katey turned her head away. 

Will you not tell me why you are anxious ? she 
said. 

His face became grave at once. 

Not for any harm which can come to us here, I 
can assure you. There is no reason why you sliould 
not sleep as peacefully as in your own bed. And, in- 
deed, it is time you were asleep. Do you know how 
late it is ? 

“ No.’’ 

He took out his watch, glanced at it, and held its 
face to her. 

One o’clock ! ” Then she remembered something 
else. ^'They should have been here before now,” 
she said. 

He made no reply. His face was averted, and he 
was suddenly busy over the fire. 

I think I can make you more comfortable ; ” and 
he disappeared among the trees, returning in a mo- 
ment Avith his arms full of dried leaves, which lie 
threw down before her. Two or three similar jour- 
neys and his work Avas done. 

“ And noAv, if you Avill make a couch of it, and put 
your feet to the fire, you may sleep for an hour or tAvo. 
This moss-covered log may serve, for once, as a pil- 


260 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


low. Wrap your shawl well about you, and don’t be 
anxious ; nothing can barm you. I shall not go far 
away.” 

Then, as Katey prepared to follow his advice, he 
threw another armful of brush upon the blaze before 
vanishing into the darkness. She wrapped herself 
warmly, as he had told her to do. Sleep would not 
come, however, at her bidding; but the change of 
position was restful, and with her cheek against the 
shawl, she followed out the queries which his manner 
had raised in lier mind. Why did he bid her sleep, 
and say nothing more of the party who would come to 
seek them ? Had he given up all hope of it ? She 
could not but feel that they should have been here be- 
fore now. The blazing fire must be visible for miles. 
It would have guided any one to them at once. Or in 
the utter stillness of the night, a voice would have 
reached them from a distance. But who Avas there 
at the school to start upon such a quest ? Professor 
Payne, if he knew the circumstances. He was too 
rigidly just and conscientious to do otherwise. He 
Avould not let his bitterest enemy come to harm if he 
could save him. And in Professor Hyce’s absence he 
Avas at the head of the house. But what Avould ]\Iiss 
Wormley say to him ? What account of their dis- 
appearance would she give ? And then, in a moment, 
the conviction hashed upon Katey’s mind that Miss 
Wormley had Avilfully misled them, and had deserted 
them at last. No one Avould come ; it Avas useless to 
longer expect it. She sat upriglit with the thought. 
A step dreAv near, and Professor Dyce appeared. 

‘‘Well?” and Katey’s voice was strained and 
anxious. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


261 


“ I thought you were asleep, child/’ 

I cannot sleep. I believe I am nervous,” she added, 
with a little hysterical laugh. “ Have you heard any- 
thing ? Have you seen anything ? ” 

Nothing at all ! ” He had thrown himself down 
before the fire. He did not avoid her eyes now. 

We must rely upon ourselves,” he said. No one 
Avill come in search of us. They should have been 
here hours ago. Don’t be frightened ! ” for Katey 
had buried her face in the folds of her shawl. We 
shall have no difficulty in finding our way as soon as 
it is daylight.” 

You believe it ? ” and Katey’s eyes searched his 
face. 

Without a shadow of doubt.” 

Then there is nothing to be anxious about ; ” and 
her voice was cheerful and assured. 

“ You are warm ? ” and he fed the fire again. 

“ 0, yes ; entirely comfortable, thank you.” 

“ Then try to sleep. We may have a long tramp 
before us yet.” 

I cannot ; I feel like a gypsy ; ” and with the little 
red shawl twisted fantastically about her, she looked 
not unlike one as she drew nearer to the blaze. I 
begin to enjoy it, since there is really nothing to fear.” 

He made no reply. She bent forward, her hands 
clasped around her knees, her face warm and bright 
in the fire-light. 

Professor Dyce,” she said, presently, in a low, 
almost timid, voice. He raised his head from his arm, 
where he lay regarding her. 

Well ? ” — when she did not go on. 

I want to tell you something ; only don’t look at 
me, please.” 


262 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


Shall I cover my face, or turn away ? 

Neither ; only look at the fire ; that will do ; 
though I believe I am not afraid of you now.’^ 

Which implies that you have been ? ’’ and he raised 
his eyes quickly, then dropped them again. 

I suppose so, since I am conscious that I am not 
now ; but that is metaphysics.’^ 

In which gypsies are not supposed to indulge.” 

There was a flutter of the leaves overhead, moved 
by a passing wind. Far away in the distance the call 
of some night-bird awoke the stillness, as she paused 
again. 

It is nothing,” she went on, slowly. Only I 
should like to tell you about that night when we were 
detained at the Junction. I saw you in the concert 
hail. I — I was with the singers, you know.” 

Yes, I know ; ” and an odd smile crossed his face. 

You must have thought it strange,” she said, 
timidly. Her forehead flamed at the recollection of 
the little red petticoat. 

I believe I did ; very strange.” 

But it was nothing at all.” And then, very quickly, 
she recounted the story of her acquaintance with the 
Hauser family. 

Why did you not tell me at once ? ” he said, at its 
conclusion. “ A word would have explained what 
could not but appear strange to me.” 

I was angry ; I saw that you distrusted me.” 

Why should I not ? ” He had risen while she was 
speaking, and paced back and forth now with short, 
impatient steps. I was very rude to you after- 
Avards,” he said, presently. Then he took off his hat. 

I beg your pardon.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


263 


0, that is all long past/’ Katey replied, in confu- 
sion. ‘‘ I deserved it ; but I was too proud to speak.” 

And suffered for your silence. Or, perhaps, you 
did not suffer ; ” and he eyed her sharply. 

Yes; it hurt me to be doubted so,” she answered, 
slowly. But — ” She regarded the fire thoughtfully, 
without finishing the sentence. 

I want to thank you,” she said, at last, raising her 
eyes, and breaking the pause which he had not inter- 
rupted, for everything. I can’t talk about it,” she 
added, hurriedly, while a little shadow stole over her 
face, but I want to assure you that I have appreciat- 
ed your kindness all the time. I think I could sleep 
now,” she went on, in a different tone, before he could 
reply. But what will you do ? You have not closed 
your eyes to-night.” 

“ I shall watch the fire. I could not sleep if I tried.” 

You will not go away ? ” 

“ 0, no, no.” 

You will stay here, and make yourself comfortable 
by the fire, I mean.” 

Certainly ; if you wish it.” 

I do, indepd. And tlien, perhaps, you will sleep 
in spite of your resolution. There is nothing to fear, 
you said ? ” 

Nothing about us here, I assure you ; ” and, 
wrapped in her shawl, her head resting upon her 
moss-covered pillow, Katey soon forgot her troubles. 


264 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XXIY. 

DO WE KEEP OUR LOVE TO PAY OUR DEBTS WITH? 

S HE awoke with the morning sun shining full upon 
her, conscious of a delicious warmth and restful- 
ness. How heavy her shawl had become ! Then she 
rose hurriedly. 

Professor Pyce, you have forgotten your coat.’^ 

He took it from her hand, and proceeded to put it 
on gravely. 

You do not mean — you surely have not — ’’ she 
began, her eyes still upon the coat. 

I have not suffered in the least, I can assure you. 
And now will you have a cup of coffee ? ’’ 

“ Let me run down to the brook and bathe my face, 
first,’’ Katey replied, humbly, forbearing to thank him. 
It was all beyond Avords, but she should never forget. 

She came back in a moment, her cheeks and finger- 
tips gloAving from contact Avith the stream, which had 
served also as a mirror before which to re-arrange 
the dark braids of heavy hair, and tie again the knot 
of flame-colored ribbon at her throat. She was loop- 
ing up the skirt of her pretty gray gOAvn over the 
bright petticoat beneath it as she approached the fire, 
trying Avith deft fingers to hide the numerous rents, 
the result of the forced march in the dark the night 
before. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


265 


A blessing on the man who invented pins/’ she 
said, putting the last in place, and taking up the lunch- 
basket ; and now, where are we, please ? ” 

In spite of the light tone, her eyes, sweeping the 
unfamiliar landscape, where was no trace of road or 
cultivated field or homestead, were full of anxiety. 

Just where, or how near to La Fayette, it is im- 
possible to tell,” replied the professor. But there is 
a well-travelled road not far from here ; probably the 
turnpike upon which we came from town yesterday : 
we have only to follow that.” 

“ But first, breakfast ; ” and Katey took out the re- 
mains of the last night’s supper. “ How fortunate 
that I brought this basket away ! But now I think of 
it, Miss Wormley gave it to me.” 

She had no intention of starving us, then ; that is 
something,” said the professor, in a low tone. But 
Katey had caught the words, and knew that his sus- 
picions were the same as her own. 

The scanty breakfast was soon over. Professor 
Dyce scattered the brands of the fire as they pre- 
pared to leave their camping-place. 

“ It was to have served a double purpose,” he said, 
grimly ; one would have sufficed. No, we will leave 
the basket,” when Katey took it up from force of habit. 

“ There is still a little coffee.” 

“We will take it and the cup, though we shall reach 
some village, or La Fayette itself, before noon, without 
doubt. Are you equal to a long tramp ? ” 

“ I think so ; ” and certainly her appearance was as 
fresh as when they started from town the day before. 
The bivouac under the stars had only brightened her 
eyes and reddened her cheeks. 


266 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


They set off over the rough fields glistening with 
dew in the early morning sun, where they had wan- 
dered vainly in the darkness for a little while the night 
before. They climbed more than one low wall, the 
professor leading the way in so straight a line that 
Katey knew he had explored it while she slept. The 
road was gained at last, and he spoke for the first 
time. 

“ It cannot be far, whichever direction we take, to 
some village or farm-house. We need not hasten so.’^ 

And Katey, breathless from the speed with whicli 
they had begun their journey, was glad to slacken her 
pace. It was much easier, too, to follow this well- 
beaten road than it had been to make their way over 
the rough fields, full of snares to unwary feet. The 
sun, though rising higher and higher, shone upon them 
still with only agreeable warmth ; the air was fresh and 
exhilarating as they went on mile after mile, strong in 
the conviction that the next turn of the road must 
bring some human habitation into view. 

But morning merged into noon ; the sun had 
long since swept off the dew, and threw down now a 
thousand burning arrows upon the white stretch of 
road, and still no village, no single farm-house even, 
had greeted their eyes. The belt of woods spread 
out until it skirted the road upon one side ; upon the 
other the rough, neglected land stretched away to the 
horizon. Somewhere among the valleys hidden in the 
distance, villages might nestle, but they were not visi- 
ble from this point, as again they hastened towards a 
bend in the road, only to find themselves upon the 
brow of a low hill with the same unchanging landscape 
before them. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


267 


Katey sat down upon a low, flat rock by the side of 
the way. She Avas faint and dizzy. Tliey had eaten 
their scanty breakfast almost at daybreak, and had 
been boors on the road. She rested her arms uj)on 
tlie rock, and dropped her head as everything whirled 
around her. 

'' Don't be discouraged," said the professor with the 
patient cheerfulness wliicli went to her heart. ‘‘We 
will rest at the foot of the hill under a clump of trees 
I see there, build a Are, and as a brook has straggled 
out of the Avoods most opportunely, you shall be 
served Avith coffee as you sit in the door of your tent. 
Come!" and thus encouraged, Katey made one more 
effort. 

She laid herself doAvn under the trees Avhen they 
Avere gained, her sIuiavI rolled into a pilloAv, Avhile the 
professor gathered a little heap of sticks and dried 
leaves, and essayed to liglit a fire. He uttered a 
quickly-repressed exclamation. She opened her eyes. 
The mateli in liis hand had gone out. 

“ But you liave more ? " 

“ I am afraid not ; " and lie made a fruitless search. 

She burst into tears. It Avas silly and childish, and 
she Avas ashamed of her weakness, but this was the 
last straAv. 

“ Don’t," lie said, gently. “ Pray, don’t. We shall 
certainly come to a house soon ; this cannot last much 
longer. If I could only do something ! " he broke out, 
in sudden despair. 

“ I am sorry — I am ashamed," sobbed Katey. “ You, 
too, must be tired, and faint, and discouraged." 

“ Not discouraged," he said, quickly. “ It is annoy- 
ing, only. There, that is a brave girl," as the sobs 


268 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


became less violent. Now, try to sleep a little 
while.” 

But Katey sat suddenly upright, instead. 

“ I had forgotten this,” she said, dragging at her 
watch-chain. Will not this light a fire ? ” and she 
held out a tiny globe of colorless rock-crystal. 

We can try it, at least,” he said. And he set him- 
self to gathering the dryest grasses, the most inflam- 
mable material within his reach, adding scraps from 
an old letter, and placing them all upon a stone already 
heated by the sun. After repeated attempts, the little 
bauble, thus turned unexpectedly to use, was coaxed 
to act the part of a burning-glass ; a faint breath of 
smoke hovered over the pile, darkening, bursting into 
a feeble flame. They had succeeded ! 

Ah! no nectar of the gods ever equalled the draughts 
from the tin cup, a little later ; no rest was ever to 
Katey like the short hour in which she lay curled up 
in the shadow of the long, thick branches of the lau- 
rels, the rough, open fields about her. 

They went on with new strength and courage, less 
impatient than before. But what we desire and seek 
after in hot haste, comes presently when we least ex- 
pect it ; we turn aside for a little time weary of the 
search, and lo 1 we stumble upon it. A break in the 
woods, and suddenly, almost in their faces, rose a little 
old farm-house, peaceful, quiet, homely, and not in the 
least disturbed by the encounter, which is more than 
can be said of one of its inmates, — a frowzy Scotch 
terrier, who rushed out to meet them, uttering shrill 
yelping cries which brought the mistress of the house 
to the door. 

Our troubles are over,” said Katey. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


269 


It was the professor who lagged now. liave 

hut just begun/’ lie rejilied, in a low tone, which did 
not roach her ear. Wait here a moment,” he said 
aloud, and went on to tlie door alone. 

My good woman,” he began, raising Ids Iiat to the 
tall, raw-boned specimen of womanhood, who had yet 
a kindly face, “ could you give us some dinner, and by 
any means send us on to the next town ? ” 

Surprise and curiosity at sight of tlie two who had 
apparently dropped from tJie skies, since there were no 
signs of ordinary human conveyance, clianged to sus- 
picion in the woman’s countenance. 

“ I don’ no,” she replied, slowly. 

You shall be well paid for the trouble.” 

’Tain’t the money.” At this moment Katey ap- 
proached. She gave her a shar]), keen glance. ‘‘Well, 
you can come in, 1 reckon ; an’ I’ll find ye something 
to eat,” she said, at last, leading tlie way into a low 
kitchen, bare enough, but neat in its appointments, 
where a couple of tow-headed cldldren playing upon 
the floor immediately hid themselves under the table. 

“ Ferliaps you could give this lady a room where 
she could rest while I see what can be done about 
going on,” suggested the professor; and Katey pres- 
ently found herself shut into a tiny I)edroom opening 
from tlie kitclien, witli an outlook tlirough its one win- 
dow upon the green grass-plot before tlie front door. 
Here she strove to remove the traces of travel, mak- 
ing her toilet before a little glass hanging above the 
high chest of drawers, which distorted her features 
oddly. 

When, after a time, she returned to the kitchen, the 
woman had taken herself and her family out of the 


270 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


way, a lunch was spread upon the table, and the pro- 
fessor stood with his back to her, before the window, 
alone. He turned as she closed the door after her. 
There was an expression of annoyance upon his face, 
which cleared at sight of Katey. 

I suppose we may sit down,” he said, moving 
towards the table. His manner was constrained and 
absent. They ate in silence ; Katey wondering, but 
not daring to ask, what information he had gained, or 
how they were to proceed to La Fayette. 

“ 1 am going to find the man of the house, and see 
what means he has of sending us on,” the professor 
said, when they rose at last. There had come a 
strange consciousness into his face, almost like em- 
barrassment. He paused with his hand upon the 
door. “ You had better remain in your room until I 
send for you. I shall tell tlie woman you are lying 
down, so that she need not disturb you. One never 
knows what such people may say,” he added, hastily ; 

don’t talk with her.” Then he went out, and shut 
the door. 

“ What they may say ? ” thought Katey. What covld 
they say ? She was too tired to think about it. She 
went back to the little close room, and threw herself 
upon the bed to rest during the brief time of waiting, 
and fell at once into a heavy sleep. Some one stood 
over her presently. It was the woman of the house, 
who touched her arm. 

“Your husband would like to have you come out, 
ma’am, as soon as you are ready.” Then she left her 
to herself again. 

Katey sprang up, her face tingling, her fingers awk- 
ward over the tying of her hat. One never, indeed, 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


271 


knew what these people might say ! She stood a mo- 
ment, her hand upon the door latch. What if the pro- 
fessor had heard the summons ! She was shy at the 
thought of meeting him. Then, putting away her silly 
fears, and making herself brave for the moment, she 
went out. The woman was alone in the kitchen, clear- 
ing away the remains of their lunch. 

He’s in the parlor,” she said without looking up, 
going on with her work, but motioning with her head 
towards the door. Long afterwards that little room 
rested in Katey’s memory — with its dull, home-spun 
carpet, its homely furniture set at ungainly angles, 
the queer silhouettes over the high mantle, the tiny 
window-panes, against which the branches of an apple 
tree outside, stunted and gnarled, tapped unceasingly. 
The flush had not died out of her face, and there was 
a little tremor in her hands, as she pushed open the 
door. The professor rose from the sofa where he had 
been lying. 

What is it ? ” he said, quickly, closing the door 
after her. What has she said to you ■? ” 

Nothing ; — or nothing of any consequence,” Katey 
replied, angry at herself as she felt the color mount to 
her hair. 

I wish you would tell me.” 

Then she told, stammering over the words : She 
only said — that is, she thought — I was your wife.” 

“ 0 ! ” He seemed greatly relieved by the brief sen- 
tence which had so embarrassed her. “ It is my fault 
— if there is any,” he went on, hesitating over the 
words, and yet speaking quite calmly. I gave her 
to understand so.” 

“ What do you mean ? How dared you ! ” Katey 


212 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


turnGd upon him in indignant astonishmont. But 
there was neither shame nor quailing in the eyes 
which met hers. 

You are very angry, then ? ’’ 

It was not true,’’ she said, faintly. 

He led her to the sofa, and made her sit down. 

Think a moment,” he said. '' How could I bring 
you to the door here, and say you were nothing to 
me ? ” 

“ 0,* wait,” cried Katey, in distress. Then her hot 
face dropped into her hands. 

We are twenty miles from La Fayette. We must 
have shortened the distance in our wanderings across 
the country,” he went on, without appearing to notice 
her. I hardly think we can have walked so far as 
that. It is full twenty miles by the road, this man 
informs me, and there is no way of reaching there 

from here but by proceeding to A , ten miles 

farther on, and taking the train back to La Fayette 
to-night.” 

He rose and began to pace the room. Katey had 
made no reply. She had expressed neither surprise 
nor assent. She sat trembling and silent in the corner 
of the old sofa. 

It will be better,” he said, presently, drawing a 
chair and sitting down before her, to understand the 
whole matter. Indeed, I must talk this over plainly 
with you. I had the misfortune, if it be one, to incur 
Miss Wormley’s resentment a few weeks ago. She 
uttered some threats then, of which I thought noth- 
ing at the time. I am inclined to believe now that 
she has bided her time, and taken tliis opportunity to 
wreak her vengeance. I could laugh at it but for 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


273 


you. You can think, perhaps, what she may do for 
us in La Fayette,^’ he added. She could not have 
chosen a better time, and every hour of absence has 
weakened our position there.’’ 

“ Let us go back at once, then ; ” and Katey made a 
hurried movement to put on her shawl. 

We cannot start now. A stage will pass here in 

an hour, or more, on its way to A . We must take 

that.” 

Again he rose and paced the floor. Then he paused. 
“ You promised yesterday that when I bade you leave 
La Fayette you would go.” 

Yes.” 

“ What if I say now. Don’t return there ? Indeed,” 
he added, quickly, “ there is but one way in which 
I dare let you go back. Child ! what might they 
not say to you — do to you ! Go home to your 
sister.” 

And let the teachers and the girls believe I was 
ashamed to return ? And have strange stories come 
creeping after me ? 0, never ! How can you ask 

it ? Besides, I cannot, if I would. Mrs. Estemere is 
abroad. The house is closed.” 

But you have a brother.” 

Yes, Jack ; ” and Katey ’s eyes shone as she spoke 
his name. He is on his way to the Army of the 
Potomac before this time. His wife will follow him to 
Washington — perhaps she has already. You see I 
have no other home just now. I must return to La 
Fayette.” 

But you have friends — the Durants.” 

And could I go to any of them like this? Profess- 
or Dyce, you mean to be kind, hut you are cruel.” 

18 


274 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


He went away to the window without a word. He 
stood staring out into the apple tree. 

Why don’t you think of yourself?” she asked, 
presently, breaking the stillness of the room with the 
voice which held a little tremor yet. What will you 
do ? How can you go back ? They distrust you now. 
You are a marked man in the town, I know. You 
acknowledge that you may have to leave at any time. 
They will say — ” 

What will they say ? ” He turned his head, but 
not his eyes, as he waited for her to go on. 

They will say — ” 

Well ? ” 

That you have run away with one of the teachers.” 

But if I return ? ” 

That will make no difference. They will ask what 
has become of me.” 

He crossed the room and stood before her, grave and 
calm. “ Miss Earle, will you be my wife ? ” 

Katey shrank back without speaking. 

A shadow touched his face. 

It is too soon, I see,” he said. 

And You are too generous,” she replied, at the 
same moment. 

I fear I am not generous at all,” he said. “ I have 
thought for a long time I should some day ask you 
that question. Years hence, perhaps, when I dared 
hope you would not say no.” 

And you ask me now because I am homeless ? ” 

He took up her words eagerly. 

Yes, because you are homeless, and in trouble ; 
because you have nowhere to go, and there is no one 
now to care for you hut me ! I wish with all my heart 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


215 


you were alone in the world, as you are alone here. 1 
could almost desire you to be cast out and despised, 
so that I — ” 

He stretched his arms towards her, but Katey, 
drawing back into her shadowy corner, gazed at him 
with frightened eyes. His arms fell, he turned ab- 
ruptly to the window. 

There was silence in the little, low room. Then by 
and by a hand touched the professor’s arm. Katey’s 
face was very pale and grave. 

Would it be better for you — would it be easier 
for you to go back if you married me ? ” 

I suppose so. But don’t think of that. I shall 
do well enough ; ” and he made a little effort to shake 
off her hand. 

Then, if you please,” she went on meekly, I will 
be your wife.” 

And sacrifice yourself in your generosity ? Not 
to me.” 

Then you will not take me ? ” 

A great flood of color swept over his forehead. He 
leaned his head against the window-frame. “ Go 
away, please, or I shall say yes, and be ashamed of 
myself afterwards.” 

And — and it wouldn’t be a sacrifice. It fright- 
ened me at first, it was so strange ; and it seemed such 
a little time since — ” Then she broke down. 

He laid her head against his shoulder, and stroked 
her hair, as he might have done to almost any one in 
trouble. You cannot love me ? That is so — is it 
not? ” and a sigh moved Katey’s cheek where it lay. 

I don’t know,” she answered, hiding her face. 

I think I will be persuaded to take you,” he said, 


276 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


with a little low laugh. The benefit of the doubt is 
mine.’’ Then he was grave again. At least, you 
are not afraid to put your future into my hands ? You 
can trust me — can you not ? ” He raised her face so 
that he could look into her eyes. 

Entirely ; ” and she laid her two hands in his as 
the door opened. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


277 


CHAPTER XXV. 

A BEGGAR-MAID. 

I T was the mistress of the house who thrust her head 
in to say, — 

The stage is coming down the hill.’’ 

^^Very well; we are ready,” replied the professor. 
“ Our preparations for departure are tolerably simple,” 
he added, taking up his hat and Katey’s shawl. 

It was a heavy, old-fashioned coach which drew up 
before the door at sight of the waiting party, after an 
alarming swoop at the small house. The driver swung 
himself down from his place. There was but one pas- 
senger inside — an old lady of prim, genteel air, with 
soft curls of white hair upon each side of her delicate 
face, and a large black satin reticule in her lap. Katey 
was conscious of painful embarrassment as she took 
the seat beside her. The judgment of the world, the 
speech of people, had become all at once matters of 
most vital interest. She felt the old lady’s eyes fixed 
upon the rents in her gown, which would obtrude 
themselves in spite of her efforts at concealment. 
Who could this girl be ? — aristocratic in appearance, 
picked up at a lonely farm-house with not so much as 
a hand-satchel for luggage, dressed in a pretty but 
shockingly torn gown, with a gentleman attendant of 
whom she seemed strangely shy — and wonder checked 


278 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


the sentence upon the old lady’s lips — a passing re- 
mark upon the weather. 

Katey felt the glance without seeing it. She felt, 
too, the slight drawing away of the neat black skirts. 
'' 0, dear ! ” she thought, it must be that I do not 
look respectable ! ” and involuntarily she glanced 
down upon the poor, despised gown, and the one 
glove, held fast from an instinct of propriety, the 
other having disappeared somewhere in her wander- 
ings. Was Professor Dyce ashamed of her? She 
turned anxiously to the corner where he sat, only to 
meet the questioning glance of a pair of keen gray 
eyes, and a smile which set her fears at rest. She 
could bear it if he did not care, and she shook out her 
drapery as though it had been rustling silk, and set- 
tled herself anew before closing her eyes and resign- 
ing herself to sleep. She was conscious, occasionally, 
of the rolling, rattling motion as they flew down the 
rough hills, or climbed others slowly, swinging to and 
fro ; of a pause once, and the sound of voices ; then, 
at last, the jolting over pavements aroused her. They 
were descending again, but more deliberately ; a wide 
river wound away below them ; the street was crowded 
and noisy, and full of life ; beyond the river another 
city spread itself as far as the eye could see. Katey 
rubbed her eyes, bewildered by the change. There 
was a heavy lurch, a smooth roll, a pause, the snort of 
steam, the sound of machinery. 

'' Where are we?” she asked aloud, and sat up- 
right. 

" We are crossing the ferry to A ,” the professor 

replied. 

"Where do you want to go?” asked the driver, 
thrusting liis head in at the window. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


279 


We will get out here ; ’’ and the professor assisted 
Katey to alight. Good hy,” she said, pleasantly, to 
the old lady in the corner. 0, 1 am not at all dread- 
ful; only I have spoiled my gown,’^ she wanted to 
add, as the twinkling eyes stared in perplexity a mo- 
ment ; then the white curls bobbed graciously. 

They reached the other side, and, mingling with 
the crowd, pressed forward up the narrow, dirty 
streets, and out at last into an open space, edged by 
the water upon one side, and by a thronged street 
upon the other. Here, where the river bent and bore 
away, a bit of the shore had been reserved from com- 
merce, squalor, and dirt. Broad, white stones were 
under one^s feet ; all about were trees and flowers 
jealously guarded, — poor, gayly-dressed prisoners be- 
hind iron bars, — and scattered here and there seats, 
where the tired and foot- sore might rest. Away be- 
yond was the open bay, blue, and twinkling under the 
bright sky, ploughed into snowy furrows by the 
steamers, or white with gleaming sails. 

0, how beautiful ! ’’ cried Katey. The wind 
seized the little gray hat with its scarlet wing; it 
caught her frayed gray gown as she stood with her 
bare hands clasped, her face like a song. A party of 
handsomely dressed people turned to stare at the 
figure. One of the young men raised his eye-glass 
and scanned her with open, impertinent admiration. 

I tell you, Guy, there’s a study,” he said to his 
companion. 

Katey caught the words — met the stare. 

0, please, let us go on ; ” and she hurried forward, 
glad to be hidden again in the crowded street. They 
were approaching the first of the many spires she had 


280 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


marked from the boat. It was upon an old church, left 
here by an odd chance, it would seem, in the midst of 
the whirl of business, like some grim old apostle plant- 
ing its feet firmly upon the pavement, though jostled, 
and edged, and pushed by men in their greed for gain. 
And the text swung out on its silvery chimes in sum- 
mer’s heat or winter’s cold, when storms wrapped the 
belfry round, or the sunshine fell like a blessing upon 
the wild, restless heart of the city, was ever the same : 

Ye cannot serve God and Mammon 1 Ye cannot serve 
God and Mammon ! ” 

Upon one side was the church-yard. Ah ! how 
heavy must be the slumber which all this tumult had 
no power to awaken ! Upon the other, a little gar- 
den, full of flowers — gay verbenas, tall, gaudy dahlias, 
and close against the wall a tangle of sweet-peas. 
Some street children, straying in through the tall iron 
gate, moved about the narrow paths, staring awe- 
struck and wondering at the blossoms. Keligion, of 
which these waifs knew nothing, may seem more 
beautiful some day — who knows ? — for the fragrance 
of the flowers growing under the shadow of the church 
walls. 

Ivatey paused to peer through the open gateway. 
The professor pushed aside the gate, and went in like 
a man who has a purpose. She followed, but it was 
only when she stood in the deep-arched doorway, and 
he looked back to her, with his hand upon the door, 
that she realized why they had come here. 

Is it now ? ” she asked, with a frightened voice, 
leaning against the stones. 

“ Are you sorry ? I)o you repent ? Wait — think 
a moment,” and his hand fell from the door. It is 
not yet too late.” 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


281 


The noise of the street was in her ears ; the voices 
of the children, the odor of the flowers, came to her. 
Afterwards, when she remembered this time, all these 
were more vividly present to her mind than any 
words. 

‘‘ You are not a child, that I should lead you against 
your will. Still, God knows, I have thought this best 
for you. And yet,’Mie added, “ if you should ever 
regret it ! I could not bear that, Katey ! ’’ 

The children shouted at their play. Their shrill 
voices sounded above the roar of the city. All at once 
the tones of the organ rolled out, bearing the chanted 
prayer to her ears. She had not thought of a service 
at this hour, and upon a week-day, as it was. It came 
in a great wave, dying away in the lingering A-men.’’ 
Katey had listened breathlessly. She drew a long 
sigh at its close. 

1 am not sorry,’ ^ she said, softly. It frightened 
me ; that is all. It is so sudden and strange. No, I 
do not repent, and I am ready now.” 

He pushed open the inner door. The service was 
just concluded, the last strains of the organ floating 
off among the groined arches of the roof. A soft twi- 
light enwrapped the clustered columns ; the rays of 
sunlight through the rich stained windows fell aslant 
upon the floor in quivering rainbows. There was no 
congregation, save an old woman, who rose from kneel- 
ing in a pew behind one of the pillars to shuffle softly 
out, and a party of strangers — an elderly gentleman 
and a young girl, Avho had been sitting near the door. 
They, too, rose now, and began to walk about, pausing 
to examine the carved designs over the organ-loft. 

The clergyman, in his white gown, closed the book 


282 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


before him with a hasty movement, and disappeared 
through a little door behind the desk. He was a young 
man. Did he find the service a weariness so soon? Or 
was he impatient that the prayers had died away 
among the pillars without response ? 

The silence, the hush of the place, the noise of the 
city, subdued to a great sobbing sigh, like that which 
conies from an over-full heart, the faint chill which fell 
upon her as she stepped in out of the sunshine, brought 
a strange awe to Katey, sitting in one corner of the 
great dark pew by the door. The professor had fol- 
lowed the minister. Left thus alone, she nevertheless 
did not consider deliberately and gravely the step 
she was about to take — the new life she Avas enter- 
ing upon Avith so little preparation. In that last con- 
fused moment, before any great event in life, there is 
no sober reflection. Hopes and fears, recollections, 
and a sense of the commonest things around us, croAvd 
close against the door about to be opened. They 
jostle and tread upon each other. 

, Shivering in her corner, partly from nervousness, 
and partly from the chill of the place, Katey watched 
the rays of light falling at her feet from the painted 
AvindoAv above her, and remembered the tinkling pen- 
dants to the candelabra in the old house on Poplar 
Street, A\diich she and Jack had placed in the sunlight 
many a time, evoking rainboAvs more wonderful than 
these. Dear old Jack ! Would he be angry with her 
for this? And Delphine, what Avould she say? A 
sudden misgiving and fear seized her — a desire to 
push open the folding door behind her, and run aAvay 
from lier promise ; out into the croAvded streets, some- 
Avhere, anyAvhere. He Avould not pursue her; he 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


283 


would never try to bring her back. And then there 
was a little stir in the distance, the closing of a door ; 
and just as it comes to us all sometimes, when we are 
tempted to do the wildest, most unconventional deeds, 
a spirit of mischief or recklessness having entered in 
and taken possession of us, suddenly the lights are 
turned on, the bell rings, the curtain rises, we shake 
out our draperies, draw on our gloves, and step out be- 
fore the audience which greets us each and all daily, 
without a thought, even, of the moment before and its 
temptation. So, as Katey bent forward, half rising, 
her hand upon the back of the seat before her, her 
head turned to the door, all at once there was a move- 
ment in the further corner. The clergyman, in his 
robes, appeared again; the professor was coming 
towards her. She rose, to be sure, but she had al- 
ready forgotten the door, the streets, and her wild im- 
pulse. They passed down the aisle in the dim, soft 
light, her hand trembling a little upon the professor’s 
arm. And yet she was not afraid ; she did not re- 
pent, now that the time had come. The words of the 
exhortation passed like the rustle of leaves in the 
wind upon her hearing. What was this her own 
voice was saying? A break in the service brought 
her back to herself 

Who giveth this woman to be married to this 
man ? ” 

A silence followed the words. No one had been 
provided. They were a strange, forlorn bridal party, 
without friends. Jack ought to be here ! ” thought 
Katey, Avith a little sobbing gasp. 

All in a moment, before she breathed again, a deep, 
pleasant voice behind her spoke : “ Will you allow 


284 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


me ? The elderly gentleman whom she had noticed 
when they entered the church stepped forward and 
took her hand, and the service went on, the professor 
removing a ring from his own finger to put upon 
hers. 

In the moment of confusion, at its close, Katey found 
herself receiving congratulations from the gentleman 
who had offered his services so opportunely. 

I shall feel an interest in your future, madam,” 
he said, since I have had a hand in its disposal.” 

He beckoned to his daughter, who came up timidly. 
She was a sweet-faced young girl ; and when she 
hesitated, and then held up her lips, Katey brightened 
and warmed inwardly. It was not an utterly forlorn 
Avedding party, after all ; it was something to have 
had good wishes, even from strangers. They came 
down the aisle together, but as they neared the door, 
Katey hung back, and their new acquaintances politely 
bade them adieu. 

They are stopping at a hotel close by,” said the 
professor, who had exchanged cards, and some words 
Avhich Katey did not hear, 'with the old gentleman, as 
the tAvo folloAved the young lady and herself down 
through the church. “ I Avish I had taken you there. 
It is not too late noAV. I must leave you somewhere 
for an hour. Our train will not start until late, — I 
tliink about nine. I have to inquire and telegraph to 
Professor Payne.” 

'' Must I go there, — to the hotel ? ” and Katey still 
hung back. I’m afraid — ” and then she hesitated. 
She laughed, blushing a little over the confession. I 
don’t believe I could bear the eyes of the Avomen. 
They would stare so at my goAvn.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


285 


The professor glanced hastily from the scarlet wing 
in her hat to the tip of the slender, dusty boot. 

“ I confess my ignorance as to such matters/’ he 
said, “ but I thought your costume very picturesque 
and becoming. I am sure more than one turned to 
look after you as we came up the street.” 

And no wonder,” laughed Katey ; to kilt one’s 
gown like this, especially on such a bright, clear day, 
would attract attention anywhere.” 

The professor knit his brows in thought. Suppose 
you let it down ? ” 

But it is torn ; ” and she spread out the folds. I 
have lost my gloves, too. A great many sins might 
be forgiven a woman, but not bare hands in the street,” 
she added ; “ and I fear that altogether I do not look 
respectable. At least I have not that inner conscious- 
ness of being well-dressed which makes one equal to 
any occasion. I — I — can’t go. Don’t think I mind 
it,” she said, quickly ; only,” she added, truthfully, 1 
believe I do.’’^ At which womanly way of stating the 
difficulty, the professor laughed. 

They had moved on slowly to the porch. Doubt- 
less no bride had ever before stood here devising her 
trousseau ! 

Could you not go out and buy some of these things ? 
We have time enough.” 

If time were only true money ! 

‘^1 could — yes; but, you see, I — neglected to 
bring away my purse.” 

She tried to hide her embarrassment with a sweep- 
ing courtesy, spreading out the folds of the torn gown. 

King Cophetua, I look very like a beggar-maid — 
do I not ? ” she said, with another little laugh. 


286 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


You look — ” began the professor ; but an old, 
gray-headed sexton shambled out from the church at 
that moment and stood in the doorway, and the sen- 
tence never was finished. That can easily be reme- 
died,” the professor said, quickly, if we only have 
time. I will leave you here, then. I shall not be 
gone more tlian an hour. You will not close the 
church at present, I suppose ? ” he said to the sexton. 

Eh ? ” and the old man ' turned his face towards 
them. 

The professor repeated the question. 

Close ’e church? Lord, no! We don’t never 
close her. ’Cept for an hour or two at midnight. 
And that’s all the thanks we get ; just a-prayin’ here 
and a-prayin’, and the choir a-chantin’, and my nevew 
a-spendin’ his strength a-blowin’ at the belluses, and 
all for nothin’ ; folks don’t care enough about their 
perishin’ souls to come in and say amen.” And still 
muttering to himself, he wandered back into the church 
again. 

Then you had better stay here,” said the professor 
to Katey. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


287 


CHAPTER XXYI. 


there’s rosemary ; that’s for remembrance. 

QHE stepped out into the garden wlien he had left 
^ her. The children had gone, and the people hur- 
rying by paid little heed to her or to the flowers. Only 
a party of emigrants strolling up from the dock, dark- 
eyed, listless in manner, brightened at sight of the 
blossoms. A dusky-eyed boy among them pulled at 
his mother’s faded blue gown, and uttered a quick, 
shaip exclamation in an unknown tongue. He pointed 
to the gay salvias, and held out his hand to Katey, as 
he lingered behind the others. If she might only 
have given him one spray ! But a notice before her 
eyes warned all persons against picking the flowers. 
She pointed to it, shaking her head. He seemed to 
understand ; he nodded and smiled a wonderful smile, 
all flash of eyes and gleam of wliite teeth, then throw- 
ing a kiss, half saucily, half in gallantry, from the tips 
of his fingers, hastened after the others. 

Be you the bride ? ” and Katey looked up to find 
the old sexton regarding her curiously. . He stood in 
the doorway, his cap pushed back from his roughened, 
grisly locks, his hands upon his liips, with the air of a 
man who rests at last from his labors. 

“ I Avas married just now, in there,” Katey replied, 
modestly, motioning towards the church. To be a 


288 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


bride would seem to involve various attending cir- 
cumstances — something of display, the rejoicing of 
friends, all of which had been lacking at her wedding. 

H’m,” he groaned, reflectively. A good many 
brides come here, first and last. We make a deal o’ 
happiness an’ misery, I reckon. It’s a lesson to some 
of ’em,” he added, grimly. 

Yes,” Katey assented, gravely, I suppose it is,” 
wlien lie paused for a response. 

“ P’raps you’d like some flowers ? ” And he moved 
rheumatically out from the doorway. 

1 should, indeed.” 

’Tain’t often 1 have a chance to give a nosegay to 
a bride. They come, mostly, in their fine carriages, 
with their frumpery an’ their furbelows, a-carryin’ 
their own flowers a-danglin’ from their arms. Sim- 
perin’ an’ gigglin’ often, Avith no sense o’ the solemn- 
ness o’ the place or the voavs they’re a-goin’ to take 
on ’em. To see ’em, year in and year out, gives one 
an aAvful sense o’ the hollowness o’ things. There,” — 
and he pulled a ravelling from his frayed coat sleeve, 
and tied up the posies, as he knelt in the path, — they 
all have a sweet smell ; none o’ your brazen-faced, 
flauntin’ things, good for nothin’ but to stare at. 
You’re welcome, ma’am,” Avhen Katey thanked him 
Avarmly. They’re fresh and SAveet, and maybe Avhen 
they’re AAuthered you’ll like to keep ’em to remember 
the day. I hope it’ll ahvays seem kind o’ sunshiny 
to look back to. I ain’t entered upon the state my- 
self, yet,” — and he rested his hands on his back, as he 
rose up sloAvly and painfully, — but it seems to me 
it’s a kind o’ bearin’ o’ one another’s burdens, and that 
ahvays brings a blessin’, you know.” 


KATHERmE EARLE. 


289 


He sliuftled off down the path, and disappeared 
within the church door, leaving the flowers in Katey’s 
hand, and very solemn, tender thoughts in Jier heart. 
She had taken this step — as she did so many in her 
— from an impulse of strong feeling, unselfish, 
perhaps, but none the less likely to entail sorrow. 
She had hardly realized the awkward situation in 
which she found herself ; but she had been touched by 
the professor’s tender, chivalrous care, and, above all, 
by the revelation of his unsuspected affection for her. 
And yet that had frightened and distressed her. She 
had so little to give in return — only her faith, her 
entire trust. Though, did she but know it, they were 
the germs of a deeper love than any she dreamed of 
now. 

The old man’s words lingered in her ears, when she 
had wandered back to the church and seated herself 
in the corner of one of the carved pews to wait there 
in the gathering darkness for her husband’s return. 
Her husband ! She had not considered seriously, 
calmly, as she should have, perhaps ; but she would be 
a true wife to him now. And thinking thus, a peace 
like the fulfilment of a blessed promise fell upon her 
with the shadows. She had uttered the words of as- 
sent before the altar in a dull, stunned way, Avithout 
any sense of their meaning ; it was now, in the peace- 
ful twilight, turning upon her finger the ring, which 
still felt strange and out of place, that she made her 
marriage vow. ^ 

Night came early in the church. It was quite dark 
when the doors opened, and she started to meet a step 
upon the stones. Outside the day still lingered, loath 
to go. 


19 


290 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“I have been detained,” said the professor. “I 
hope the time has not been dull.” 

“ O, no ! ” She displayed her flowers and told of the 
interview with the old sexton ; but she kept back the 
words which had touched her most. She had thought 
in the dim old church to tell it all, with what had been 
in her heart ; but it did not seem so easy to do now, 
out in the bustling streets. 

They went about from one place to another upon 
their odd shopping expedition. To replace the torn 
gown at a moment’s notice was impossible. Neither 
art nor skill had travelled so far at that time; but 
Katey found a pretty wrap, hooded and tasselled, which 
fell to her feet, hiding all imperfections, — a deep, 
bright tartan, which set off well the graceful figure 
and dark, sweet face. A bonnet, with bands and loops 
in the same rich hues, completed the transformation. 

“ It makes a difference,” she said, drawing on the 
gloves of an unobtrusive tint, which had been the 
acme of her desires. “ I am conscious of being now a 
thoroughly respectable member of society. I felt like 
a gypsy before. I believe I could have played a tam- 
bourine or told fortunes upon the curbstones, with no 
sense of inappropriateness or of surprise at myself.” 

“ It will be wise in me to attend to your outward 
adorning, then,” rejoined the professor, “ lest I find 
you haranguing a multitude, because your hat chances 
to have a strong-minded cant, or following a hand- 
organ, because you have forgotten your gloves.” 

He spoke absently. Her light words had called up 
only a brief, grave smile. How unlike his manner was 
to that of the impassioned speaker in the dull farm- 
house parlor only a few hours before ! She remem- 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


291 


bered, all at once, that he had said no word of gladness 
that she was his wife ; he had not even called her by 
that new name. He was Professor Dyce again ; quiet, 
giave, and calm, hor a little time he had been some 
one entirely new and strange to her. There flashed 
upon her mind the recollection of a carriage which 
liad driven past the open window where she stood 
once, long ago. It held a bridal party, which had just 
left the door of the church. In that flash, as the 
carriage dashed by, she had seen the bridegroom’s face 
— the proud, happy face turned to the woman beside 
him. She had never thought of it since. But it 
seemed it had staid in her memory to rise now. How 
silly ! she thought, vexed with herself. As if he had 
nothing to think of at this moment but the question- 
able happiness of possessing her ! And she ran down 
the steps and slipped her hand into liis arm. 

“Well,” he said, brightly, “and now?” 

“I believe that is all ; I am more than satisfled; I 
fear I am wickedly happy and vain.” 

“You have gained the inner consciousness, then ?” 

“ O, more than that.” 

“ Well, we have still an hour before the train leaves. 
We can go directly to the station, and take our tea 
there while we wait, or to the hotel.” 

“ Let us go to the station,” Katey said. So they 
walked slowly on up the streets, twinkling with lights 
now, and full of an eager crowd of people going their 
several ways, each intent upon his own business or 
pleasure, but all hurrying — whither? 

They lingered long over their tea in the quiet 
waiting-room of the station ; then, at last, the train 
swept in with the shriek of a whistle and the clang 


292 


KATHER/NE EARLE. 


of bells, and soon they were rushing away towards La 
Fayette. All manner of vague apprehensions rose in 
Katey’s mind as they neared their destination. The 
events of the past two days had been so strange, that 
she had hardly anticipated an hour. “ What could 
they say to us ? What could they do ? ” rose to her 
lips many times, as, with her face pressed against the 
window, she watched the sparks flying by in the 
darkness, and realized how swiftly they were being 
borne to meet this judgment, whatever it might be. 
The professor was absorbed in his own thoughts. But 
at the last, as they were leaving the train, she felt that 
she must speak. 

^ “ Tell me,” she whispered, while her heart beat 
violently, as they were delayed a moment by the 
rush of in-coming passengers, “what shall I say to 
them all ? ” 

It was a comprehensive question ; but she had ut- 
tered the first words which occurred to her. 

Say as little as possible,” was the professor’s re- 
ply. “I think I can trust to your discretion.” 

But in her discretion, of which every one else was 
assured, Katey had no confidence whatever. 

I oremost among the jostling, hurrying crowd, when 
they reached the platform, was Professor Payne. Sur- 
prise almost took away Katey’s breath. It was all 
confusion; there was a hurried word of greeting, the 
utterance of her new name ; but she gathered nothing 
more until she heard Professor Dyce say, 

“I thought of taking her to the hotel.” 

Don t consider it for a moment,” Professor Payne 
replied, in a tone which was certainly cordial. “ You 
are both expected at the school. This way ; I took 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


293 


occasion to engage a carriage ; ” and almost before 
she knew it, Katey found herself seated in it and 
whirling rapidly np the hill. Nothing dreadful was 
to happen, then, after all ? The shock was almost too 
great to bear. She had tried to nerve herself for 
combat. It was a tilt against a windmill. 

Kind, timid Miss Hersey opened the door when 
they reached the house. She greeted Katey with a 
warmth quite unlike her usual shy, cool manner. Did 
no one blame her? Would no one look coldly upon 
her ? Ah, but it would have been different if she had 
not returned as Professor Dyce’s wife ! In the ex- 
citement of the moment she did not notice by which 
door they had entered, until she found herself in what 
had formerly been the president’s parlor. 

“We thought you had better take these rooms, at 
least for the present,” Miss Hersey said. “ You’ll find 
them rather bare ; but that can be remedied later.” 

The pretty personal effects, the quaint foreign or- 
naments, all which had given to the room its peculiar 
charm, were gone ; the plain, heavy furniture alone 
remained. But a bright fire burned in the grate, and 
upon the mantel was a bouquet so large, the flowers 
of so rare a kind, that no one but Clary Luckiwinner 
could ever have chosen it. And who should come 
flying in at this moment to seize her about the neck 
but Clary herself, her eyes swollen, her face shining 
from past tears and present rejoicing. 

“ She begged so hard that I allowed her to sit up 
for you,” Miss Hersey said, apologetically. “ But you 
must go now. Clary ; Mrs. Dyce is tired, I presume.” 

Clary tore herself reluctantly away, but not before 
Katey had admired and thanked her for the startling 


294 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


bouquet wlii.cli threatened every moment to topple 
into the grate. Professor Payne and Miss Hersey 
still lingered. 

“ Perhaps,” suggested the former, rubbing his dry 
hands and regarding the professor and Katey with a 
delighted air which was beyond all comprehension to 
the persons most interested, — “ perhaps they would 
like to partake of some refreshments ? ” 

But they declined. “We took tea at A ,” 

Katey explained. 

“ Then we will bid you good night. ” 

“ I should like to see you a few moments in the 
library,” Professor Dyce said to Professor Payne, as 
the latter was leaving the room. “ I will come to you 
there immediately.” 

Katey had followed Miss Hersey to the hall, where 
she astonished the good woman by throwing her arms 
around her neck, and kissing her warmly. 

“That is ‘good night,’” she said, with a little 
laugh. But away down in her heart she knew it ex- 
pressed much more, which she could not put into words. 
She came back and stood before the fire, taking off 
lier hat and the pretty bright wrap. She heard the 
door close, and Professor l^ayne’s step dying away. 
She was thinking ~ as the most trivial thoughts do 
flit through our minds when we are in the midst of 
tlie most startling or care-bearing events — how odd 
it was to be bareheaded again ! — just that, as she 
smoothed back her hair. 

“Poor girl,” said the professor, leaning upon the 
mantel, and regarding her with tender, curious eyes, 
“ were you very anxious ? ” 

“O, very, for a little while. I almost thought 
they would turn us out of doors.” 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


295 


He smiled, but the gray eyes flashed. 

“They would not have dared to do that. But I must 
go to Professor Payne. I shall tell him the whole— as 
far as the circumstances of our losing the way, and all 
that, are concerned,” he corrected himself. “ He is a 
thoroughly just man, and will aid me in getting at the 
truth. I must learn what has taken place here, too, 
before I meet the school to-morrow.” He crossed the 
room to the door while he was speaking; then he came 
back. “ It is not an inviting home,” he said, gently; 
“but my wife is very welcome.” His lips touched 
her forehead; then he was gone. 

She stood for a moment where he had left her, 
tlie heavy wrap half slipped from her shoulders and 
still grasped with one hand, a faint color called up to 
her face; then she awoke from her reverie with a 
start, and set herself to examine her surroundings. 
There was a dressing-room just beyond the parlor, she 
knew; and here again some slight attempt to prepare 
for her coming had been made. Her gowns were 
hanging in the wardrobe, her books piled upon the 
floor without any attempt at arrangement. The showy 
toilet articles upon the table were Clary’s gift, she 
knew. Much as she desired employment, restless as 
she was at this moment, she could not put herself to 
setting anything in order. Everything was unreal 
and strange. She could not divest herself of the idea 
that she should be called upon in a moment to start 
again. She could not realize that her wanderings 
were over. She was turning away when her eyes fell 
upon a letter, unnoticed before, upon the white marble 
of the dressing-table. She caught it up, a great throb 
of terror whitening her face. It was from Dacre Home. 


296 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Why had he written to her now ? She held it still 
unopened in her hands. O, how bitter was the past! 
If she could only blot it out! She had no sense of 
pain — only a dull, aching regret. “ It was for noth- 
ing,” she said — the anxiety, the striving, the praying 
even. Why had this come to her, to bring it all back, 
when she thought she had forgotten? He was nothing 
to her now; and yet the letter was like a temptation. 
If she could only open it! Perhaps he had confessed 
all to Christine, as she had urged him to do in her 
letter ; perhaps he had changed his course; she should 
be so glad to know; and yet she turned it over in her 
hand. It was crumpled and torn at the edges, and 
bore many post- marks. It must have been written 
long ago, and wandered far. She read the superscrip- 
tion — Miss Katherine Earle. It was not to her, after 
all ; it was written for a girl who was no man’s wife ! 
Professor Dyce’s strong, grave face rose suddenly be- 
fore her. He would come to her presently — her hus- 
band, whom she had promised this day to love and 
honor ; there should be no thought in her heart, please 
God, which she should be ashamed or afraid for him to 
know. She returned to the parlor. The fire still 
blazed in the grate. She laid the letter upon the coals, 
where it flamed for a moment, then died to ashes. 
Then she sat down to await the conclusion of the 
conference in the library. 



She laid the Lettei 
Momeni’, 


i ui>ox THE Coals, where it flamed for 
then died to Ashes. Page 296. 


A 






KATHERINE EARLE. 


297 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

UNTANGLING THE SKEIN. 

TT was as they had suspected. Miss Wormley re- 
turned to town with her charge the afternoon of 
the picnic without waiting for the professor and Katey, 
or making any effort to find them. Long before they 
could have reached the spot to which she had sent them, 
she joined the girls, who were already collected out- 
side the woods, in the fields adjoining the road. She 
made a feint of lingering here, then led the way at a 
slow pace down the road towards the village, where 
they were to take the omnibuses. Some of the girls 
ventured to demur, and suggested that they should go 
on alone to town, and leave Miss Wormley and one of 
the older girls to return and seek the two who, being 
strangers to the locality, had, perhaps, already lost 
their way. But to this she would not listen for a mo- 
ment. “ What ! leave the girls to go back to town just 
at nightfall alone? ” 

She would return to town at once, though half of 
La Fayette wandered lost among the woods and hills. 
It was no fault of hers if laggards were left behind. 
She had warned them. 

“But you sent them away,” said Clary Lucki winner, 
growing bold in her terror. “ I went back for my 
basket, and I saw you — ” 


298 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


“ Silence, Miss Luckiwinner, and return to your 
place; you break the line.” And so she marshalled 
them all like a skilful tactician, as she was, and, put- 
ting herself at the head, led the procession from the 
omnibus station down to the school. 

‘‘ They went for a walk, you say,” repeated Profess- 
or Payne, nervously, when she immediately laid the 
matter before him. She was sufficiently wise to say 
little — nothing, in fact, but that the delinquents had 
wandered away, and failed to return in time to take 
the omnibus. “ They must have strayed farther than 
they intended. It was thoughtless, certainly ; but 
the next omnibus will bring them, without doubt.” 

“ And you think I was right to return with the 
girls? I had no one to send after them, you know, 
and if we had lingered there until dark — ” 

“O, to be sure,” answered the professor. “Your 
duty, unquestionably, was to see that the girls were 
cared for and returned at a proper time.” And he 
went home to tea somewhat annoyed, but not at all 
uneasy as to the final result. 

When he came back later in the evening, and there 
were still no tidings of the professor and Katey, he be- 
gan to be seriously alarmed. The conviction that 
they had lost their way forced itself upon his mind. 
He knew something of the locality where they had 
spent the afternoon. It was wild and sparsely set- 
tled. With night coming on, and even by daylight, 
one might wander for hours here without coming upon 
a house or the turnpike, which wound among the hills. 
He called Miss Hersey and Miss Wormley, the only 
teachers in the house, for consultation. The growing ex- 
citement among the girls necessitated some action, even 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


299 


if common humanity did not demand it. It was long 
past the hour of retiring, but still white-robed figures 
flitted about the dormitory halls or gathered upon the 
stairs. The hasty opening of the library door, where 
the three teachers had met together, was followed by 
the sound of scurrying feet and the disappearance of 
ghostly forms into the darkness of the music-room and 
up the stairway beyond. 

And now, at the midnight council held in the library, 
Miss Wormley ventured to go a step farther. It was 
useless, in her opinion, — which, perhaps, counted for 
nothing, — to search for the missing ones, since they 
were, doubtless, miles away before this time. 

“I — I do not understand.” Professor Payne’s 
mind was slow in its operation. He stared at her al- 
most stupidly ; his under jaw dropped, his faded blue 
eyes fixed in their expression of perplexity. 

“ I mean,” she went on, boldly, “that no one could 
be lost there in broad daylight. That is all.” 

She threw up her chin by a sudden movement as 
she spoke, bringing her eyes upon a level with a row 
of volumes in the library devoted to the discussion of 
original sin. It was good to see the air of conscious 
and severe virtue displayed in her countenance at 
this moment. 

“ For shame ! ” exclaimed Miss Hersey, hotly. 
“ There is nothing so mean as insinuations — and 
against those who cannot defend themselves ! ” She 
paused, frightened at her own boldness. The over- 
charged weapon had recoiled ; she began to cry. 

Poor, timid little Professor Payne was at his wit’s 
end. He had called them together for deliberation ; 
the result seemed likely to be a quarrel. Uncon- 


300 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


sciously his strong sense of justice ranged him upon 
Miss Hersey’s side. 

“ Do I understand you to prefer charges against 
Professor Dyce and Miss Earle ? ” he demanded, with 
a kind of trembling severity in his voice. 

“ O, no, no ! Not at all ! I have no charges to pre- 
fer. It is nothing to me, I am sure ; ” and Miss W orm- 
ley seemed to scent a very pleasing and tranquillizing 
odor in the air, quite above the heads of her com- 
panions. 

“ If you mean to say that they have gone away de- 
liberately, we can easily decide that by visiting their 
rooms,” said Miss Hersey, who had recovered her 
dignity by this time, through wrath, which does 
more than self-control, sometimes, towards drying 
tears. “We should be likely, in that case, to find a 
note stating their intention, or, at least, some signs of 
preparation. I think we had better proceed at once,” 
she said to Professor Payne, who, by this time, was 
in a state of mind to accept any suggestion. 

Led by Miss Hersey, they proceeded to Katey’s 
room, followed and accompanied by the soft rustle of 
garments, the stealthy, muffled sound of unseen feet, 
the opening and closing of doors in the darkness but 
feebly lighted by the lamp in Miss Hersey’s hand — 
all of which ghostly sounds they were too much en- 
grossed to heed or notice. The door was unlocked. 
Everything in the little corner room appeared as 
usual — upon the table an open book, a bit of em- 
broidery half completed ; the very air of the place, as 
the light flared into it, was peace and expectation of 
return. 

They descended the stairs without speaking, and 


KATHERINE EARLE, 


301 


went on down to the class-rooms, among which was 
the professor’s study. The door was locked, but after 
a time a key was found to open it. Here, too, were 
no marks of disorder, no suggestion of change. Miss 
W ormley’s eyes fastened upon a sheet of paper lying 
upon the writing-table. It was a half -written letter. 
The ink had dried upon the pen thrown down beside 
it when the writer was called away. She took it up. 

“Really,” began Professor Payne, “we have no 
right-—” 

“ Listen to this,” said Miss Wormley, triumphantly, 
and read aloud: “ ‘ You will not be surprised at any- 
thing you hear of me, since my future movements are 
so uncertain, especially if you learn that I have left 
here suddenly — ’ ” And there the letter broke off. 

Even Miss Hersey was startled. “ It may not refer 
to this matter at all,” she said at last, recovering her- 
self. “We all know him to have had large interests 
at stake here. The suit was decided some little time 
ago in his favor. There is nothing, certainly, to keep 
him here.” 

“Then you do believe he has gone?” Miss Wormley 
said, maliciously. 

“In this way ? No.” But in truth Miss Hersey 
did not know what to believe. 

They returned to the library. To retire to their 
own rooms was out of the question. The weight of 
responsibility upon two, at least, of the party, banished 
all thought of sleep. 

Daylight struggled in at the window, and still they 
had decided upon no course of action. Miss W ormley 
dozed in her chair. Professor Payne and Miss Hersey, 
chilled, anxious, and miserable in body and mind, after 


302 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


their night of watching, still conversed together in 
low tones at intervals. If Professor Dyce had left not 
to return, steps must be taken to fill his place. The 
trustees must be informed at once. What, and how 
much, should be told the girls ? Who would fill the va- 
cant places in the class-rooms ? or could the school go 
on as usual ? All these considerations began to press 
upon them with the dawn. Though Miss Hersey had 
denied stoutly that the letter found in his study had 
anything to do with Professor Dyce’s disappearance, 
and Professor Payne was inclined to agree with her, 
it had still so far influenced both, that nothing was now 
said of sending in search of them. 

“ I suppose we had better have prayers, as usual,” 
suggested Professor Payne at last, when signs of life 
began to make themselves apparent throughout the 
house. The poor man appeared more pinched, and 
withered, and yellow than ever, as he rose up and 
straightened himself feebly. 

“Prayers!” exclaimed Miss Wormley, in a sharp 
voice. “ You had better go into the school-room, and 
inform the girls that their precious teachers have ab- 
sconded, and there will be no lessons, or prayers either, 
till you have laid the matter before the authorities. 
Even if they should dare attempt to return now — ” 

“Miss — Miss Wormley,” interrupted the professor, 
“ there is, so far as I can see, no occasion to create 
anarchy or disorder. I shall of course put the whole 
matter into the hands of the trustees ; but in the 
mean time, jmu will please say nothing to any one upon 
the subject ; ” and with an unusual straightening of 
the thin figure, causing a surprising number of wrinkles 
never seen before in the back of the rusty black coat. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


soa 

the little man walked stiffly out of the room towards 
the study-hall. 

Regret that he had not despatched some one at once 
in search of the missing ones grew upon him every 
moment, especially when the curiosity and excitement 
among the girls became manifest. The very fact that 
they had differed so widely upon the questions of the 
day, and that a coldness had in consequence sprung 
up between them, made the just little man, who was 
left in this dilemma to manage affairs, fearful lest he 
had not done his duty. And at last, when the school 
had been organized for the day, with an attempt to 
make a show of going on as usual, he slipped out of 
the house, and engaged a man to mount a horse and 
scour the country in the neighborhood of the picnic 
ground. But of this he said nothing to any one. 

Clary’s distress can be imagined, perhaps ; it was 
beyond the power of description. She dissolved to 
tears before the omnibuses were gained, and wept 
from that time forward in a feeble, heart-broken way, 
with occasional respites of wrath, odd little unexpected 
bursts of anger, which dried her tears for a time, and 
perhaps saved her from entire liquefaction. No at- 
tempt at discipline could affect her conduct in the 
least. She wandered about, or made a lay figure in 
the school-room, neither studying nor attending the 
recitations of her classes, with ability to do nothing 
but mop her eyes with delicate little lace-edged hand- 
kerchiefs — for grief, even, with Clary, must have its 
attendant magnificence. Although by no means pro- 
found in her reasoning on ordinary occasions, she de- 
veloped now a skill and acuteness in conjoining cir- 
cumstances, with a boldness in uttering convictions. 


304 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


which did much towards fostering and strengthening 
public opinion in favor of the absent ones, besides 
stirring up suspicion and girlish outspoken scorn — 
which know neither bounds nor reason — against Miss 
Wormley. Her position was by no means an envi- 
able one, even before the afternoon, when the despatch 
from Professor Dyce arrived, falling like a bomb in 
their midst. “ I shall return to La Fayette by the 
evening train, with Miss Earle, who is now my wife,” 
it read. There was nothing more. 

To say that Professor Payne — whose messenger 
had returned before now from his useless quest — re- 
joiced, would too feebly express it. If anything so 
dried and stiffened into shape as his countenance 
could be said to fairly shine and sparkle, this was true 
of it now. He walked directly into the school-room, 
stepped upon the platform before Miss Hersey, who 
was trying to enforce the semblance of a study hour, 
with the assurance of utter self-forgetfulness, and read 
the message aloud, ending it with a kind of glorified 
glare at the girls, conceived as a radiant smile. And 
they appreciated the act, bless their dear warm hearts, 
north and south ! For the first time they understood 
each other. A great shout went up from the whole 
school. They sprang from their seats, and crowded 
around the little man, who by this time had retired 
into his shell again, frightened at himself and them. 
But they would not be repulsed, and with a little ner- 
vous laugh, and a trembling quaver in his weak voice, 
he could only assure them, over and over again, that 
he really knew nothing but what he had learned from 
the despatch. Miss Wormley, passing through the 
school-room, heard the message, felt the shout of joy 


KATHERINE EARLE. 305 

like the trembling of the earth under her feet, and 
crept away to her own room to hide her mortification 
and rage as best she could. She had failed. There 
remained nothing for her but to accept the fact, and 
try to avert whatever consequences would be likely 
fo fall upon her head. At least they could prove 
nothing against her. Even Professor .Dyce must ac- 
knowledge that her duty was to return to town with 
the girls in her charge. If no one was sent after 
them, — for she knew nothing of Professor Payne’s at- 
tempt, — it was not her fault alone. Certainly she 
should not lose her position in the school. If it came 
to that, public sentiment in the town would sustain 
her against Professor Dyce. There was but one rule 
in these days of excited feeling by which any man’s 
conduct was to be measured, and there the professor 
would fall short. He was a marked man now, she 
knew. He must go before long, or suffer the conse- 
quences of remaining. Could she not hasten his 
departure — or worse ? She could do nothing. She 
was a woman, and believed in a woman’s circum- 
scribed sphere ; but a spring touched by the lightest 
fingers moves mightily sometimes. 

20 


306 


KATHER/NE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

NORTH AND SOUTH. 

WORMLEY was the first to greet the pro- 
fessor and Katey when they descended to break- 
fast the next morning. Slie had decided upon her 
course of action, in which affability and a show of 
warm interest were to take a prominent part. 

“ We were very anxious about you for a time,” she 
said to Professor Dyce. 

The girls, who had gathered around them, waited 
breathlessly for what would follow. 

“ Ah, were you ? ” the professor replied, with an 
odd smile; “ there was no occasion, you see ; ” and he 
passed on to his place. He had no desire for a scene ; 
he could afford to be generous ; but above all, he did 
not intend to gratify the curiosity which spoke in 
every line of the woman’s face. With the exception 
of Professor Payne and Miss Hersey, no one in the 
house knew, or should be made to know, of the events 
of the past two days. Among the girls it came to be 
believed that .they had chosen this abrupt manner of 
changing their relations to avoid comment, and a pro- 
longed discussion of the act ; and as everything at 
once went on as usual, except that Katey resigned her 
classes, excitement and curiosity soon died out. Pro- 
fessor Payne’s hesitation, and the slow process by 


KATHER/NE EARLE. 


307 


which he reached any conclusion, served them well, 
since he had not yet laid the matter before the trus- 
tees when the telegraphic message arrived. Something 
of the story did creep out into the town, where Pro- 
fessor Dyce was already conspicuous for the suit he 
had recently gained, as well as for his northern sympa- 
thies. People wondered that he still pursued his 
medical studies, and held his position in the school, 
now that all personal effort for his support was un- 
necessary. It could only be accounted for upon the 
ground of eccentricity, to which this strange episode, 
concerning which various fanciful stories were told, 
was also attributed. One may do the most unheard-of 
deeds with tolerable impunity when once the repu- 
tation for oddity is well established. 

Katey’s first act when the professor had left her to 
attend his classes, the morning after their return, was 
to write Delphine and Jack of her marriage, reserving 
all particulars of the event until they should meet. 
Delphine’s reply reached her some days before Jack’s, 
her letter to him having strayed in many directions 
before finally gaining his camp upon the Potomac. 
The Estemeres, it seemed, had already returned from 
the continent, and were in London. They would sail 
for home, probably, in a fortnight. Mr. Estemere, 
alarmed at the depredations of the Confederate cruis- 
ers, believed further delay to. be dangerous, and had 
concluded his business as hastily as possible. 

“ My Dear Katey [Delphine wrote] : To think 
you are married ! I can hardly write for astonish- 
ment. And you said there were no young men at La 
Fayette ! I remember something of Mr. Dyce, or I 


308 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


have certainly heard of him through the Homes, and 
congratulate you heartily — and him. If it were any 
one but you, dear, I confess I should be shocked and 
alarmed ; but you always were the soul of prudence, 
and have grown to have the coolest little head im- 
aginable. I dare trust you, Katey, and am prepared 
to thoroughly like my brother-in-law. Of course you 
will come to us at once upon our return home.” 

Then she went on to speak of their intentions, and 
change of plan. 

“ The soul of prudence ! ” thought Katey, laying 
down the letter. How little Delphine knew of her ! 

J ack’s reply came a few days later. The professor 
brought it in one evening. She was sitting in the 
president’s parlor, which was her parlor now, a little 
dull, a little — not lonely, perhaps, but she missed the 
noisy girls always invading the corner room in the 
other building upon the slightest pretext, or quite as 
often upon none at all, and Clary, who had been her 
shadow, but whom she saw less frequently now. She 
missed, too, the cares and duties which had formerly 
filled all her days, and made every hour of rest and 
leisure a real delight ; she was not yet wonted to her 
new life. 

The long room was still bare and uninviting. They 
had made no attempt to beautify it. “ W^e may go 
any day,” the professor said. So, although a month 
had elapsed since they came here, her books and pic- 
tures, gathered hastily from the other house, had never 
been set in their places, or hung upon the walls. It 
was like a cheerless caravansary, where they rested 
for a night, before taking up their pilgrimage again. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


309 


She had been alone for an hour. She was often 
alone now. It was not the dullness of the place, nor 
of her life, after all, which had so affected her. Many 
women had been happier with less of luxury or society 
about them ; she had been happier camping in the open 
fields ; but there had risen between the husband and 
wife of so short a time a coldness and reserve to which 
every day added its stone. Or, more truly, there had 
been no open confidence between them from the first. 
Katey was awed, and driven back upon herself, in the 
parlor of the little farm-house, by the revelation of the 
professor s passionate love. She had come now almost 
to doubt her judgment on that day. Certainly nothing 
could be more grave and undemonstrative than his man- 
ner towards her since then ; thoughtful, too thoughtful 
at times of her comfort, since she had grown to look 
upon his tender care as prompted by duty alone. He 
had doubtless been disappointed in her — they were 
so nearly strangers to each other, although they had 
lived so long beneath the same roof ; or had it only 
been pity and generosity, of which she had taken such 
cruel advantage ? Could she have been so mistaken ? 
She had tried at the first to be her own natural self, 
with the result peculiar to a novice in acting a part. 
She appeared only constrained and self-conscious. All 
the odd, impulsive ways in which her nature had 
been used to speak unconsciously, were checked now. 
Truly there is no one so difficult to copy as one’s self. 

She had thought, sitting alone in the church that 
day, waiting for the professor to come, how she would 
strive to please him, being, even then, she could see 
now, proud, as well as sure, of his affection, which in 
time she would be able, without doubt, to return. 


310 


KATHER/NE EARLE, 


Poor, foolish Katey ! full of fancies and unattainable 
ideas, blinding her to the present and the real ! And 
now it was all changed ; even in these few short weeks 
everything seemed changed. Nothing in the world 
appeared to her of so much value as his love, and yet 
she had lost it. How? when? or had it ever been 
hers ? She could not tell. 

She had moved about restlessly all through the day, 
unable to put herself to work, with no desire to take 
up a book. The mood had passed now like a fever 
turn, and left her quiet, but languid and weak. Pro- 
fessor Payne had intercepted her husband on his way 
from tea, and drawn him into the library. He came to 
the parlor a moment, before going over to the school- 
room for the evening study hour. The shutters were 
closed, the gas was lighted, and Katey sat over the 
fire, her hands folded listlessly in her lap. Her hair 
was drawn back from her face. Was it this, or the 
light falling upon it from above, which made it appear 
paler than it used, and had laid heavy shadows under 
the eyes ? 

He stood just within the door, regarding the drooping 
figure with an expression of anxiety, almost of pain. 

“Do you want anything? Can I do anything?” 
And she rose in a flurried way, becoming aware of his 
presence at last. 

“ I am on my way to the school-room ; perhaps you 
would like to go.” He had hesitated over the sug- 
gestion, coming forward as he uttered it. 

“No, thank you.” And she sat down again; but 
now she took some work from the little stand beside 
her, and began to busy herself over it. 

He leaned against the mantel, looking down upon 


KATHER/NE EARLE. 


311 


the bent head and slender, nervous fingers, which 
trembled a little under his eyes. One of them bore 
the odd chased ring which had belonged to his 
mother ; it was Katey’s wedding ring. He sighed as 
‘he turned away to the door again. 

Katey dropped her work when he had gone. She 
rested her head upon her hand, and fell to dreaming. 
It might have been an hour, it might have been only 
a moment, when the door opened, and he appeared 
again. “ Miss Hersey will sit in the school-room to- 
night,” he said when Katey’s face expressed her sur- 
prise. Then he laid a letter upon the table before 
her. From Jack ! Her listlessness vanished at once. 
Her eyes shone, her face was all eagerness and delight, 
as she tore it open. 

It was a very brief letter, indited after Jack’s cus- 
tomary style, which rivalled the proverbs of Solomon 
in conciseness, but with a boldness of chirography 
which made up for all deficiencies of material, and 
spread the few words over the whole sheet. 

“Dear Katey [he wrote] : Mail about to close; so 
I hasten to send a line. Yours just rec’d. I am as- 
tonished at you ; expected you would do something 
unheard-of away off there alone. You never could 
take care of yourself. [Ah, Jack knew.] I shall come 
on as soon as I can get a leave of absence, and see 
what is to be done. In the mean time you must go 
directly to Josie. [The professor was quite ignored 
in his calculations.] Shall write her by this mail. 
She is not coming to Washington at present, our 
movements are so uncertain. 

“ In haste, your affec. brother. 


“Jack.” 


312 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Katey laughed as she read the letter, much as she 
used to laugh long ago, or even a little time ago, be- 
fore the chill which had checked everything like mer- 
riment had crept over her. It was so like hot-headed 
Jack, who evidently believed that his presence alone 
was necessary to annul the marriage, and make all as 
it should be ! 

Professor Dyce was lying back in an arm-chair, re- 
garding her as she read it. The weary expression 
which was becoming habitual to his face, lifted for 
a moment at the sound of her laugh. She turned to 
him, with a little quick, natural movement, holding 
out the letter. Then she drew it back ; she had dis- 
covered a postscript. 

“ Whom should I meet one day here but Dacre 
Home,” Jack wrote. “ He is in the camp adjoining 
ours. Deserted from the rebels, they say, but is 
awfully plucky. Won some bars for his sleeve at Big 
Bethel, where, according to the boys, he tried to throw 
his life away. It may make a man of him yet. He 
knows me, of course ; but we never speak.” 

Katey read it, her face growing warm. It might, 
indeed, make a man of him, as Jack said. Poor Chris- 
tine ! would it add any joy to her life ? 

She held the letter in her hands, hesitating an in- 
stant before giving it to the professor. She was 
ashamed, feeling her face so warm ; Dacre Home’s 
name had never been mentioned between them. She 
was glad, only glad for this hope of his future ; but 
would the professor understand it ? She almost wished 
Jack had not written of him. 

The professor saw the blush, marked the momentary 
liesitation. “ It is from Jack,” she said, holding it out 
to him. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


313 


“ And what does Jack say ? ” He spoke in the 
grave, kind tone to which Katey was so accustomed, 
but made no movement to take the letter. 

“It is very short ; won’t you read it ? Only don’t 
mind Jack,” she added, hastily, remembering the first 
part of the letter, which, for the moment, had slipped 
from her memory. She watched his face, over which 
an amused smile passed as he read the few lines re- 
ferring to their marriage. “ He has always taken care 
of me,” she explained, quickly. 

“ Yes, I see ; ” and he fell into a reverie. 

He had not turned the page. Should she remind 
him of the postscript, or let it pass ? 

“ There is something more upon the other side,” 
she said ; and he took up the sheet again. As his 
eyes left the last word, they were lifted to hers ; but 
there was neither doubt nor suspicion in the glance. 

“ I am very glad,” she said, quietly, meeting his 
glance without shrinking. “ It may do everything for 
him, as Jack says.” Then she bent over her work as 
she went on, “ I know a girl who will rejoice over any 
good news of him, for she expects to be his wife.” 

She hoped he would offer some remark, ask a ques- 
tion, say anything which would call for some word 
more definite f roln her lips in regard to Christine ; but 
there was only silence in the long, bare room. Out- 
side a little stir, a faint commotion, had arisen. The 
evening had turned warm, and though a low fire 
burned in the grate, she had left her seat, and opened 
one of the windows. It might be this which had filled 
the room with a sound as of muffled voices and moving 
feet, bringing the street strangely near. She checked 
her fingers, drawing the needle in and out, to listen. 


314 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


Everything startled her now ; she was nervous and 
weak, and easily alarmed by the conflicting reports 
which each day brought from the seat of war, as well 
as the strange rumors floating about town of possibili- 
ties nearer home. A convention, it was whispered, 
was in secret session even now to vote the state out 
of the Union. Were they not lingering here too 
long ? 

“ Hark ! what is that ? ” as a low, continuous mur- 
mur, like the repressed voices of a multitude, seemed 
all at once to fill the room. The professor started to 
his feet, when, without word or warning, the door was 
thrown open, and Professor Payne appeared. His face 
was shrunken and gray with terror. 

“ There is a crowd about the house,” he gasped, 
when he could find his voice. “I — I greatly fear 
for you, my friend. But perhaps you might escape 
now through the garden.” 

“ Don’t be alarmed,” said Professor Dyce, laying 
his hand upon Katey’s shoulder. She had fallen back 
upon her chair white and trembling. There was a 
strange, resonant ring in his voice, but no quaver of 
fear. 

“ Go, ^0,” Katey tried to say. 

“ It is too late for that,” he replied. “ If they in- 
tend to threaten, they have surrounded the house 
already. But I think you exaggerate the danger.” 

The murmur of voices had risen to a shout of 
“ Dyce ! Dyce ! ” 

Then Professor Payne rose to the occasion. “ I will 
speak to them,” said the little man, moving towards 
the door. “ They know my sentiments.” 

Professor Dyce had been hastily fastening the win- 


KATHER/JVE EARLE. 


315 . 


clow shutters. He took Katey in his arms as though 
she had been a child, bore her through the dressing- 
closet, and laid her upon the bed in the room beyond. 
Then he returned to the parlor. It was the work of 
an instant. “Take care of my wife,” to Professor 
Payne, and he was gone. 

He closed the heavy outer door behind ]nm, as he 
stepped out suddenly in the face of the crowd. The 
flaring gas-light below him lit up his form and the 
strong, calm face which betrayed no signs of fear. 
The unexpected appearance, when they had antici- 
pated flight or resistance, took them by surprise, and 
in that one moment he had a chance to scan the mob 
which surged at his feet. It was led, he saw at once, 
by a bully, as such an assemblage invariably is — a 
great hulking fellow, whom he recognized at once as a 
man employed about the office of the lawyer who had 
opposed his claims to the estate he had recently 
gained. “ Ah ! ” he said to himself, “ it is easy to 
recognize the lever to this movement ; ” and he was 
confident as to the identity of certain shadowy forms 
hovering upon the outskirts of the crowd; public dis- 
turbances serve private ends often and well. For 
the most part it was made up of the idle and curious, 
among whom women were plainly discernible; one, 
with an old black shawl covering her figure, hid her 
pallid face and blinking eyes behind a thick veil. 

“ Ah, Jim Boles, is that you ? ” said the professor, 
in a cool, almost jocular tone of familiarity, singling 
out the leader, who had pressed to the front, sur- 
rounded by a staff of ragged, half-grown boys ; “ what 
do you want? ” 

The man had worked himself to the point of hero- 


316 


KATHER/JVE EARLE. 


ism. He had even learned a little speech for the oc- 
casion, in which liberty ” and “ the stars and bars,” 
often rej)eated, were to act a telling part. This ab- 
rupt, simple question drove it at once from his mind, 
and seemed to reduce the whole affair to a very ordi- 
nary occurrence, with no opportunity for sentiment or 
poetry, in which he secretly delighted. 

“ Hang out the flag, d — n ye ! ” he added, under his 
breath, making up for his clipped eloquence by an 
oath, and bringing from under his coat, as he spoke, 
a small Confederate flag tightly furled, which was to 
have been waved at a certain point in his speech. 
The sight of it, the sudden flaming out of its colors 
before the crowd, whose excitement had fallen to 
curiosity, might have roused it to frenzy. So much 
could a bit of bunting do when it represented an idea 
for which men died ! 

The professor leaned down and took it carelessly. 
It was like gunpowder, he knew, and the eyes of the 
people before him were sparks. He rolled it still 
more closely in his hands, as though unconsciously, 
while he replied, ‘‘ And make myself liable to arrest 
for treason? You forgot that the United States still 
holds jurisdiction here. You had better go home and 
to bed, Jim.” 

‘ You 11 have to be up early to take down the 
shutters, you know,” added a piping voice in the 
crowd. 

A laugh rose around the already discomfited leader. 
One’s followers are not always one’s friends. “They 
seem to be just a talkin’ pleasant like,” one man ex- 
plained to another, who was too far away to hear. 
And this ran down through the crowd, which began 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


317 


slowly to disperse, followed by the laugh, which con- 
firmed the impression that nothing was to be done, 
after all. In five minutes the street was deserted, or 
given up to its usual passers, when a squad of police 
came up the hill in great apparent haste to inquire 
into the disturbance. 

“ There is no disturbance, gentlemen,” Professor 
Dyce replied. “ I can only regret that you should have 
been annoyed by such a report,” he added. But the 
sergeant blustered and stormed, and insisted upon 
placing a guard about the house for the night. “ As 
you please,” the professor said, coolly, turning to re- 
enter the door. But what was this figure shrinking 
back into the deep shadowv doorwav ? 

“ Katey ! ” 

“ Don’t be angr}^ ; but indeed I could not stay 
there. It was no fault of his ; ” as poor little Pro- 
fessor Payne, who, true to his trust, would not be left, 
stepped out from behind her. There was no time to 
blame or praise, for the whole school, headed by Miss 
Hersey, came crowding in from the music-room at 
that moment. Clary, for once too frightened to cry, 
having outstripped the others. 

“ It is all over ; and indeed there was no cause for 
alarm,” the professor hastened to say, and dismissed 
them. In those days a man’s foes were truly of his 
own household, he realized, when more than one pair 
of flashing eyes and white lips met his glance as the 
girls turned reluctantly back. 

Miss Wormley appeared in their midst as they 
were saying good night. There was an unusual color 
in her face, and slie breathed heavily, like one who 
had come in great haste. Something like rain-drops 


318 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


sparkled upon her gown. Outside a sudden shower 
had risen — a gust of wind and rain, heavy and 
angry, beating against the windows, and drowning 
the sound of their voices. 

“ O, did you know — ? ” began one of the girls in 
a shrill tone, recognizing her as a new comer. 

She felt Professor Dyce’s keen eyes. In spite of 
her efforts, the color spread and deepened upon her 
face. 

“ Yes,’’ she replied, hastily ; “ it was dreadful — 
was it not ? ” 

“ O, very^'’ responded the professor, grimly, forcing 
her blinking eyes to meet his straightforward glance. 
“ The shower, you mean ? ” Then he turned and 
entered the parlor. She knew that he understood 
her, that he had fathomed her designs. Ah, well, 
she thought, then I may Avork openly. But that 
night she lost the opportunity forever. 

Professor Payne and Miss Hersey awaited Professor 
Dyce in his parlor. He closed the door after him, 
threw himself into the chair he had left so suddenly 
earlier in the evening, and, resting his forehead upon 
his hands, seemed lost in thought. 

“ What is this, about a convention ? ” he asked at 
last, abruptly, rousing himself. 

Professor Payne looked timidly, fearfully, from one 
to another of the little group. They were all enemies 
to the cause, he knew. Still a few days, perhaps even 
hours later, it would be no secret. “ It may adjourn 
to-night,” he replied ; and, with a sudden glow upon 
the faded cheeks, “we shall carry the state.” 

'’^You never will,'' Then Professor Dyce checked 
himself. Why discuss again the subject which of late 


KATHER/JVE EARLE. 


319 


had never been broached between them ? “ Our time 
has come,” he said to Katey. “We must leave at 
once.” Years afterwards, looking back upon this 
hour, and the timid little man who had been his 
steadfast friend, it was comforting to remember that 
they trusted each other to the last, and, though they 
went far asunder as the poles, no bitter words passed 
between them. “ And you — ” to Miss Hersey — 
“will you go with us?” 

The two women stood holding each other by the 
hand. Katey tightened her clasp. The color swept 
over Miss Hersey ’s face, then it was pale again. 

“ My home is here,” she said. “No; I will stay.” 

“ There is no time to lose,” interrupted Professor 
Payne, nervously; “even now you may find it difficult 
to leave town, after what has occurred to-night. Cer- 
tainly you can take nothing with you. The best plan 
would be to catch the midnight train north, at Little- 
ton, if you could be carried over there.” 

And so the matter was finally decided, and Pro- 
fessor Payne hastened away to secure a conveyance, 
ostensibly for his own use. 

The moment their conference was broken up, Katey 
retired to her bedroom to select a few necessary arti- 
cles which could be thrust into a hand satchel, and 
arrange, as best she could, the remainder of her 
wardrobe and personal effects which were to be left 
behind. 

She was kneeling upon the floor before a half-filled 
trunk, confusion and disorder about her, danger per- 
haps ahead, and yet happier than she had been for 
weeks. They were to take up their wanderings again. 
Where they were going she had not thought to ask. 


320 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


It did not matter. Her hat and cloak were thrown 
upon a chair near by, ready to put on. A moment 
more and the professor would come for her. The 
door opened, and he entered the room. 

“ Don’t let me disturb you. It is not yet time to 
start,” he said, moving about restlessly as she went 
on with her work. All at once he paused at a little 
distance, his arms folded, his gaze upon her. “ You 
have not asked where you are going.” 

“No,” she answered, brightly ; “ I don’t care.” 

“So that you leave here,” he added. “You are 
right. It was folly to remain so long.” 

Why did he speak so sadly? Katey looked up in 
haste. Was he ill, that there should have come such 
a whiteness to his face? Care and the annoyances of 
the past few days had worn upon him. He should 
rest when they were once safely away. 

“ I think you had better go immediately to your 
sister-in-law. Jack wished it,” he went on. “ And 
Mrs. Estemere has, perhaps, arrived by this time. I 
shall take you there myself, and see that you are com- 
fortably settled. You will be happy with your own 
friends, and I am glad to feel that you need want for 
nothing. I am not a poor man now, you know. But 
I shall arrange all that.” 

He spoke hurriedly, almost disconnectedly. Katey 
only stared, without reply, when he paused. She had 
not yet gathered the meaning of his words. Of course 
they should go to Josie, or to Delphine, if she had re- 
turned. Katey had not considered the subject until 
now, yet this was the most natural course to take, she 
knew. But what was this something beneath his 
words which shocked and startled her? What was 
he saying? 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


321 


I fear it was all a mistake from the beginning'. But 
it is too late to go back to that now.” 

His voice sounded hoarse over the last words. His 
^ face was turned away. Then he went on in his usual 
deep, grave tone. 

“/shall go at once to Washington, and apply for a 
position in the field or in some hospital ; wherever 1 
can hope to be of use.” 

“ And leave ME ? ” She had found her voice at 
last. The words came like a cry of pain. The pretty 
white gown she was folding fell out of her hands, as 
she sprang from the floor. “ O, you wouldn't do that. 
I should never be a care to you,” she pleaded, hurried- 
ly, forgetting her fears, her pride, everything but this 
terrible vision of a dark possible future. “ I would 
go anywhere, do anything ; I am not afraid of hard- 
ships ; only take me. I can’t be left beliind,” she 
cried. “ Other women follow their husbands ; why 

should not I ? I know I am not very nice, but ” 

“Child! what do you mean?” He seized her 
almost roughly, and held her off for an instant while 
he read the pale face with its trembling lines of pain 
and terror. Then he took her in his arms. “ We do 
not deserve happiness,” he said, solemnly, “ since we 
have almost let it slip out of our hands.” 

“ And you are not nice ? ” he added, presently. He 
laughed a low, happy laugh. “ Ah, well, I will try to 
be resigned.” 


21 


322 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

MARRIAGE BELLS. 

T here is a blaze of light in Delphine’s city home, 
as though a summer day had awakened, — night 
though it is, — with its arms full of flowers. They 
trail, and blossom, and peep over arch and door- 
way ; they hang from picture and chandelier ; they 
blush and nestle, and give out their sweet perfume 
everywhere. The Estemeres have returned, and to- 
night they entertain their friends in honor of Katey’s 
marriage and Jack’s coming home. For Jack has 
won a short leave of absence at last, though he has re- 
signed all thought of arranging Katey’s affairs anew. 

“ You never could take care of yourself,” he said, 
when he appeared unexpectedly to them all one day, 
and had released Katey from his bearish, brotherly 
embrace. 

“ I know,” she replied, “ and so what could I do 
but allow some one else that troublesome privilege ! ” 
and she presented her husband. Jack gave him one 
keen glance from his handsome eyes as the professor 
came forward, by no means abashed by this encounter, 
with a laugh on his lips over Katey’s characteristic 
speech, and the hatchet which Jack had been bran- 
dishing over Katey’s captor all the way from the 
banks of the Potomac was buried on the spot. 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


323 


In one of the upper rooms of the house Katey is 
putting the last touches to her toilet for the evening. 
Happy Katey ! who feels that she has nothing more 
to desire, and is almost frightened at the great joy 
which has come to her. She sweeps down the long 
room like a queen in her trailing robes, white and 
shimmering. There are orange flowers in her hair, 
and a veil of soft lace, caught at her shoulders, falls 
away from her pretty bare arms. She recalls her 
wedding day and the dusty, torn, gray gown, and 
smiles over the remembrance. She will always pre- 
serve it, to the day of her death ; and yet it is 
pleasant to be a bride, and wear a wedding gown, 
she thinks to-night. But she forgets it all when she 
kneels upon the hearth-rug before the professor. 

“ And so you always remembered me ? ” she says, 
dreamily, her eyes upon the fire, taking up the con- 
versation interrupted a moment before. 

“ Yes ; from the night at the party, when you came 
running up the stairs in that odd flowered gown, with 
my crutch in your hand. I used to fancy, when I 
was abroad, years afterwards, that I would come 
home and find you out some day. I had learned 
your name, you know.” 

“ But you never told me at La Fayette that we had 
met before. Perhaps you had forgotten.” 

“ By no means ; on the contrary, I recognized your 
name at once, and flatter myself that my influence 
helped to turn the scale in your favor against the 
many applicants for the place you sought in the 
school. You can imagine, perhaps, my curiosity in 
regard to you ; you know the surprise and consterna- 
tion the sight of you at first awakened, for I did not 


324 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


hear your name at all that evening at Mrs. Durant’s, 
and never for a moment suspected that you were the 
Miss Earle I was on my way to La Fayette to meet. 
The double surprise after having seen you masquer- 
ading at the Junction was almost overpowering. 
You were a fascinating problem in those few first 
weeks — a dangerous one, I found later.” 

“And no problem at all, finally,” Katey added, 
with a soft little laugh. 

“ No ; but something infinitely better. One does 
not care to take an enigma for a wife. There are 
certain dangerous possibilities in the solution. But 
I had almost forgotten ; ” and he put a letter into 
her hand. 

“From Mina Hauser!” There was a flutter of 
cards tied with white ribbons, as Katey opened the 
envelope. “ So Mina and Hans are married at last I ” 
she exclaimed, joyously ; “but what is this? ” and she 
drew out a little note, not in Mina’s round hand. It 
was from Christine, and as she read, Katey ’s face' 
grew warm and strangely bright. It was written in 
the hospital. Camp Fairfax, Virginia, and a few lines 
will suffice to quote here. “ I know it all,” Christine 
wrote ; “ Dacre has told me while I sat here holding 
his hand ; and we are to be married to-morrow. I 
wanted to write you now, before I slept. Dear Katey, 
how can I ever bless you enough ? He wished me to 
write. He believes you will be glad to know. He 
has been very near death ; but now he will live, the 
doctor says. O, you don’t know what that means to 
me. He has won his shoulder-straps, and when he is 
able to return to camp, I am to go with him. I am 
never to leave him again. And Mina is married and 


KATHERINE EARLE. 


325 


happy, and father and Wulf are well ; but no one is 
so happy as I, dear Katey. I laugh and sing, but 
more often I cry. To laugh is not enough. It seems 
as though one must shed tears over such great joy.” 

“So it has all come right at last,” Katey says, 
softly, when the professor has put the letter again 
into her hands. “Not in my way ; but God’s ways 
are better than ours.” 

She rests her cheek against his knee, thoughtful 
and still. The little French clock upon the mantel 
marks the passing moments, with faint subdued ticks 
like heart-beats. 

“Please salute the bride,” she says, presently, rais- 
ing the broad, smooth forehead, with its coronet of 
dark hair ; “ they always salute the bride, you know.” 

He takes the sweet, grave face between his hands, 
and kisses her lips. 

“ And they offer good wishes,” she adds. 

“ God bless you, my wife ! ” 











SEP 16 1902 

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